Timeline for Why are most of the top universities American?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
34 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 26, 2017 at 4:39 | comment | added | Pacerier | ...its calibrated numbers, it ranks all other universities against the then top universities. Also related: Are Chinese universities of lower quality. | |
| Jan 26, 2017 at 4:39 | comment | added | Pacerier | @JoelReyesNoche, shanghairanking.com/ARWU-Methodology-2014.html Not exactly written, though its common sense. When ARWU started, they had been observing how universities were ranked then, and what was it that the top universities then have that makes them top universities. And first with the list of top univerisities then as the definition of a top university, it reverse-engineered and created a methodology with calibrated numbers that when applied, puts the top universities then as the top universities then. And using that methodology, with.. | |
| Dec 28, 2016 at 8:51 | answer | added | user3644640 | timeline score: 0 | |
| Dec 28, 2016 at 8:42 | answer | added | David | timeline score: 1 | |
| Dec 27, 2016 at 3:57 | answer | added | mako | timeline score: 9 | |
| Oct 24, 2015 at 14:25 | comment | added | Jasper | The Los Angeles Times has an essay about the importance of high-level networking between researchers and businessmen. It compares the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California from 1970-2015. Both regions started with strong aerospace, electronics, and media businesses. Both regions have major research universities (Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCSF in the Bay Area; CalTech and UCLA in Southern California). Both regions are subject to the same increasingly burdensome state and federal governments. | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 5:37 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackAcademia/status/655256275337527300 | ||
| Oct 17, 2015 at 3:03 | review | Close votes | |||
| Oct 17, 2015 at 6:16 | |||||
| Oct 12, 2015 at 5:18 | comment | added | JRN | @MarcClaesen, you say that "the Shanghai ranking defines Harvard U to be rank 1." Could you tell me exactly where in your link this is stated? | |
| Oct 11, 2015 at 23:37 | history | protected | ff524 | ||
| Oct 11, 2015 at 23:23 | answer | added | Mark Joshi | timeline score: 1 | |
| Oct 11, 2015 at 13:24 | answer | added | Jouni Sirén | timeline score: 4 | |
| Oct 11, 2015 at 10:07 | answer | added | user9646 | timeline score: 33 | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 23:24 | answer | added | Tim Chambers | timeline score: 5 | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 12:07 | comment | added | Davidmh | Another factor: US is big. 300 million inhabitants, compared to the 500 of the EU; and richer. So, even with everything else being equal, I'd expect a fair chunk (around 30-40%) to be American. | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 10:06 | comment | added | Raphael | @MarcClaesen If backed up with evidence (or at least plausible explanations), your comment would make a good answer. | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 9:08 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @Mico: I think Marc's comments directly address both questions. "Why are most of the top universities American?" -> "Because the rankings that bring them to top were designed to bring them to top."; "What is special about American higher education?" -> "As opposed to other higher education systems, the American higher education system is the one that was defined to be the ideal form when designing the rankings." (Not saying that this is entirely true, and I'd like to see some references for the claims, but nonetheless I see the claims as direct answers to both forms of the question.) | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 9:03 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @Emil: And even with the "elite universities" program (which has also received quite some criticism within Germany, because apparently quite some people do not want single universities to stand out and receive more funding than others), there is also an "excellence initiative", which, to some extent, can be perceived in a way that universities that didn't get chosen as "elite" can still get chosen to house a "cluster of excellence". Like this, every university can ultimately get some sort of a "special marker", again without a clear ranking. | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 8:58 | comment | added | Emil | One contributing factor that I have not yet seen in an answer: In the US there is a clear concept of a "top university" and an inter-university ranking. At least in some other countries this might not be the case. I'm thinking especially of Germany where this is much less pronounced and people can be hard-pressed to even name a university that is distinctly above others. Thus reputation, funding and concentration of top academics tend to be more spread out. There is a government initiative in Germany that tries to establish "elite universities", but it will take time to show an effect. | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 8:19 | answer | added | Mico | timeline score: 15 | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 8:17 | comment | added | David Richerby | @Mico No, if true, Marc's comment is 100% relevant. The question is "Why do American universities do so well in the rankings?" and, if true, Marc's comment answers that. | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 5:46 | answer | added | Graham Toal | timeline score: 10 | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 1:23 | comment | added | Marc Claesen | Surprised nobody has yet mentioned that most rankings originated from the US, which inspired several other closely related rankings (e.g. the Shanghai ranking defines Harvard U to be rank 1). University rankings are mainly a PR game, so obviously the (mostly American) universities that produce them end up on top, or the rankings wouldn't be made in the first place. This is not to say that these rankings are total BS, but please don't overestimate their relevance. | |
| S Oct 10, 2015 at 0:35 | history | suggested | TRiG | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Tidied grammar,
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| Oct 10, 2015 at 0:21 | answer | added | John Perry | timeline score: 4 | |
| Oct 10, 2015 at 0:18 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Oct 10, 2015 at 0:35 | |||||
| Oct 9, 2015 at 23:59 | review | Close votes | |||
| Oct 10, 2015 at 12:16 | |||||
| Oct 9, 2015 at 23:33 | comment | added | Stephan Branczyk | No, they are not old, not even close. topuniversities.com/blog/10-oldest-universities-world But yes, they do welcome the best of the best. | |
| Oct 9, 2015 at 23:03 | answer | added | Zarrax | timeline score: 71 | |
| Oct 9, 2015 at 22:55 | answer | added | Jasper | timeline score: 6 | |
| Oct 9, 2015 at 21:37 | answer | added | Franck Dernoncourt | timeline score: 54 | |
| Oct 9, 2015 at 21:07 | answer | added | user42055 | timeline score: 17 | |
| Oct 9, 2015 at 20:24 | comment | added | Prof. Santa Claus | They are old and welcome the best of the best. After that you have the Matthew effect -- my 2cents. | |
| Oct 9, 2015 at 20:09 | history | asked | Jia | CC BY-SA 3.0 |