Canute Thompson | University global rankings: A look at the UWI’s story

In the landscape of higher education, university rankings have become a crucial metric of quality and reputation. The recently published Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings highlight this fact.

In The UWI’s 2017 - 2022 five-year strategic plan, The UWI established as one of its strategic objectives to be ranked among the top five per cent of universities, globally. It is to be noted that a university must meet certain criteria to qualify to be ranked. These include the publication of at least 1,000 articles in the last five years prior to entry, with no fewer than 200 published in each year. The UWI selected Times Higher Education as the agency to which to submit its data for ranking. Times is arguably the most prestigious among the ranking agencies. The UWI entered the rankings in 2018 and was successful in being ranked among the top five per cent. The UWI is the only university in the Caribbean to be ranked.

RANKING POSITIONS FLUCTUATE

A university’s position in global ranking is not fixed. This is due to three main reasons:

(1) Ranking is a competitive exercise.

(2) The criteria used by ranking entities are changed from time to time.

(3) The number of universities that are sampled in each round of ranking increases with each round.

In relation to the first, observers will note that among the top 50 universities, for example, there is constant fluctuation in the positions. Similarly, there is constant change in the bands in which all other universities fall. An analysis of the second reason is highly instructive. In 2018, global citations carried the heaviest weighing, but by 2024, the heaviest weighting had shifted to impact.

Larger universities with resources that enable them to enter partnerships with large multinational conglomerates are likely to do better than smaller universities in relation to impact. On the issue of the number of universities participating in the rankings, it is to be noted that in 2018, the year The UWI first participated, the Times reviewed just under 1,500 universities (1,463) of which 1,147, or 98 per cent, qualified to be ranked. For the 2025 ranking, the number of universities that qualified to be ranked had risen to 2,092, an increase of 82 per cent.

It cannot be overstated, therefore, that despite factors such as competing against universities with greater resources, changes in the weighting of criteria, and more competition resulting from new entrants, The UWI was able to retain its spot among the top five per cent even though it fell into a lower band.

SEVERAL RANKING ACHIEVEMENTS

In 2020, when THE first undertook a ranking of newer or younger universities, specifically those between 50 and 80 years, The UWI ranked among the top 100. The criteria and methodology for these newer universities were the same as those used in the World Rankings.

The UWI is the #1 university in the Caribbean in a population of about 100 universities and is among the top one per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, of which there are almost 5,000 universities.

THE UWI AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Earlier this year, Times assessed universities’ Impact Rankings, focusing on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In THE’s series of metrics used to evaluate the performance of the individual SDGs, The UWI has earned high scores. These are on SDG 3, which address Good Health and Well-Being; SDG 5: Gender Equality, for its proportion of women receiving degrees in assessing; SDG 13 for environmental education measures as part of its Climate Action; and research into partnerships for the goals under SDG 17.

With the support and endorsement of the United Nations, and through partnership funding from the Inter-American Development Bank, The UWI has established the International School of Development Justice (ISDJ) to respond to the need to educate and empower current and future activists and leaders within the framework of the 17 United Nations SDGs. The UWI is the only university with such an enterprise and it is partnering with world-renowned universities such as the State University of New York (SUNY), the University of Glasgow, the University of Johannesburg, and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, located at Columbia University.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE

The UWI will maintain its strategic objective of being in the elite group of the top five per cent of universities, globally. To maintain this position, in a context of increased competition and financial challenges, will require the continued determination of the university’s faculty in publishing in top-tier journals as well as pursuing and creating high policy and economic-impact partnerships. In relation to the latter, the work is already under way at all our five campuses. In this regard, The UWI will shortly be announcing further major partnerships that it has secured.

With the calibre of partners that The UWI has been able to attract, its reputation could not be higher, but The UWI will continue to pursue strategic global partnerships while maintaining rigorous quality standards and continuously review its programme offerings to ensure that they are aligned with the needs of the market and supportive of the development goals of the Caribbean, in particular.

Canute Thompson is professor of educational policy, planning, and leadership at The University of the West Indies, and pro vice-chancellor for undergraduate studies. Send feedback to canute.thompson@uwi.edu