Comme chaque année depuis 2004, le Times Higher Education publie aujourd’hui son palmarès des 200 meilleures universités au monde. Qu’on soit d’accord ou non avec ce genre d’exercice, il reste qu’il m’apparaît riche en renseignements sur de grandes tendances mondiales.
Il faut cependant se méfier des indicateurs utilisés. Ainsi, la notation sur la qualité de l’enseignement (20% de la note totale) n’est en fait basée que sur le ratio professeurs-étudiants:
Our proxy for teaching excellence is a simple measure of staff-to-student ratio. It is not perfect, but it is based on data that can be collected for all institutions, often via national bodies, and compared fairly. Our assumption is that it tells us something meaningful about the quality of the student experience. At the most basic level, it at least gives a sense as to whether an institution has enough teaching staff to give students the attention they require. This measure is worth 20 per cent of the overall score.
Les principales conclusions des auteurs de ce palmarès sont la montée des universités asiatiques en parallèle avec la chute progressive de la domination des universités américaines. Différents facteurs expliquent ces observations:
“These countries have invested heavily in higher education in recent years, and this is reflected in the improved quality in their top institutions,” he [Philip Altbach, directeur du Centre for Higher Education au Boston College] says. “They have also attempted to internationalise their universities by hiring more faculty from overseas … this helps to improve their visibility globally.
[…]“Are we really naive enough to think that China, India, Malaysia, South Korea, the Gulf states and others do not want to build long-term, high-quality, sustainable university systems?” he [Don Olcott, directeur de l’Observatory on Borderless Higher Education] told Times Higher Education.
At an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conference earlier this year, it was suggested that the US and the UK would be hit far harder than most countries by the need for future public spending cuts because both will need to reduce massive budget deficits. A number of countries in Asia, including Japan and Korea, will face an easier ride. Delegates spoke of a resulting major “redistribution of brains”.
Évidemment, les institutions canadiennes suivent la tendance américaine…
Like its southern neighbour, Canada’s overall position in the rankings also dropped. It registered 11 institutions in the top 200, compared with 12 in 2008. Its two best performers both rose – McGill University climbed from 20th place to 18th, while the University of Toronto shot up from 41st to 29th – but others slipped.
Par exemple, l’Université de Montréal est passé de la 91ième position à la 107ième et UBC (Colombie-Britannique) de la 34ième à la 40ième place. Par contre, l’Université de l’Alberta poursuit sa montée de la 74ième à la 59ième place. En 2006, cette institution se classait au 133ième rang, puis au 97ième en 2007… Que s’y passe-t-il de si exceptionnel? Le boom pétrolier explique-t-il tout?
