What Kind of University Rankings Do We Want?

There is clearly a demand for rankings and information systems in the field of higher education, but there are also many questions about their validity, quality, and impact. Moreover, it seems that rankings, or at least some important rankings, are inclined to reinforce certain negative tendencies. Until recently, international competition has focused for the most part on publication and research output. As a result, education and the social role of universities have been neglected. It is an important challenge, therefore, to create multidimensional rankings or information systems that take the different functions of universities into account and can be used by students, employers and policy makers.