Science/Economics paper by Nádai, László
Measuring Hungarian Higher Education -- Why International Rankings Fail (Accepted)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Traditional university rankings (both international and domestic), official evaluation systems developed over decades, typically focus on the academic performance and human resources of institutions, resulting in strong bias in favor of universities with a long history, and English language programs. However, let us notice that in the age of digitalization, the world we have known so far is changing at an extraordinary pace, the usual rules of the market have been called into question, and business uncertainties are great, which at the same time creates almost unlimited opportunities. In this "Brave New World", universities also have new roles and responsibilities. Employees become contractors; knowledge creation and knowledge transfer replaced by knowledge utilization; academic institutions become (partly) profit-oriented, entrepreneurial institutions. That is why it is worthwhile to evaluate, compare and rank universities in a novel, holistic and innovative way. In the paper, we strive to meet this expectation and creatively combine traditional metrics of teaching and research performance in academia with business performance goals of quality, speed, reliability, flexibility, and cost. We want to emphasize that bureaucratic performance evaluation based on metrics, no matter how sophisticated, cannot substitute, but complements, supports the acquisition of real-life experience, expert activity, and responsible decision-making of the management.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
László Nádai is dean of the John von Neumann Faculty of Informatics at Óbuda University, Budapest. He has over 20 years of experience in research funding and institutional management in the higher education sector. Specialties: system modeling and control, intelligent transportation systems, STEM education.