THE Latin America University Rankings 2019: results announced
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile now tops the region
June 18, 2019
Browse the THE Latin America University Rankings 2019 results
A Chilean university has topped the Times Higher Education Latin America University Rankings for the first time, overtaking Brazil’s two flagship institutions.
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chileclaims the number one spot in the 2019 edition of the table, having risen from third place thanks to boosts in its scores for institutional, research and industry income.
It replaces Brazil’s University of Campinas, which had led the table since 2017 but has fallen two positions to third. The University of São Paulo remains in second place.
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Brazil is still the most-represented nation in the table, with 52 institutions, up from 43 last year. Chile remains second in this country list with 30 representatives, up from 26.
The decline of Campinas, whose overall score improved since last year, is largely the result of increased competition in the table. But the institution, in common with several others from Brazil, received lower citation impact scores this year.
In general, Chilean universities have seen improvements in their score for institutional income per academic staff.
Analysis of the average country scores in different pillars of the ranking, based on the top 100, show that Chilean universities are strong performers on citation impact and international outlook – Brazil’s weakest areas. Brazil’s strongest areas are teaching and research environment.
– Hard ground but hints of rich fruit
– Southern exposures
– A continent of contrasts
– Join in common cause
– Let’s challenge students
– Market momentum
The results follow proposals by the Brazilian government to cut university funding, targeting specific institutions and subjects, and concerns over the country’s new education minister, who is an economist with ties to government.
Fernanda Estevan, associate professor at the São Paulo School of Economics, said that Brazil’s “serious public budget deficit” has meant that all sectors, including higher education, have been affected by funding cuts.
View this year’s Latin America University Rankings methodology in full
But she said that the main problem facing the sector was “a very perverse incentive system, which values quantity over quality and does not evaluate researchers in many areas based on international criteria”.
Download a copy of the Latin America University Rankings 2019 digital supplement
“If I had to choose between increasing funding and improving incentives, I would choose the latter,” she added.
The THE Latin America University Rankings 2019 includes 150 universities spanning 12 countries.
THE Latin America University Rankings 2019: the top 10
|
2019 rank |
2018 rank |
Institution |
Country |
|
1 |
3 |
Chile |
|
|
2 |
2 |
Brazil |
|
|
3 |
1 |
Brazil |
|
|
4 |
7 |
Brazil |
|
|
5 |
5 |
Mexico |
|
|
6 |
4 |
Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) |
Brazil |
|
7 |
6 |
Chile |
|
|
8 |
9 |
Brazil |
|
|
9 |
8 |
Colombia |
|
|
10 |
11 |
Brazil |
Latin America University Rankings 2019: hard ground but hints of rich fruit
The region has had a tumultuous year, yet there is unmistakable progress to extol, says Phil Baty
June 18, 2019
Source: Getty
Browse the full Times Higher Education Latin America University Rankings 2019 results
There is a lot that is wrong with higher education and research in Latin America: there has been a dramatic expansion of university places in recent years without the requisite increases in financial support; there are deep sector schisms between the public and private university sectors; there is chronic underfunding of research in key countries; and there is limited international collaboration. Meanwhile, political turmoil is contributing to an uncertain and tumultuous policy environment; forces of populism are denigrating key areas of scholarship and critical thinking; and an excess of red tape is hampering the kind of dynamic leadership that is required to help the university sector fulfil its potential to transform economies and the life chances of individuals and make the continent a better place.
No wonder, with a huge dose of understatement, does Fernanda Estevan, associate professor at the São Paulo School of Economics, say that “there is a lot of uncertainty ahead” (page 8).
But one thing that is made very clear in our latest analysis of universities across the region is that there is also much that is right with higher education and research in Latin America.
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The Times Higher Education Latin America University Rankings 2019 highlights some excellent institutions that are performing powerfully across THE ’s trusted range of 13 separate performance indicators derived from the THE World University Rankings.
Countries/regions represented in the THE Latin America University Rankings 2019
|
Country/region |
Number of institutions in top 150 |
Top institution |
Rank |
|
Brazil |
52 |
2 |
|
|
Chile |
30 |
1 |
|
|
Colombia |
22 |
9 |
|
|
Mexico |
21 |
5 |
|
|
Argentina |
7 |
27 |
|
|
Ecuador |
6 |
61–70 |
|
|
|
|
61–70 |
|
|
Peru |
5 |
=20 |
|
|
Cuba |
2 |
48 |
|
|
Venezuela |
2 |
51–60 |
|
|
Costa Rica |
1 |
37 |
|
|
Jamaica |
1 |
32 |
|
|
Puerto Rico |
1 |
49 |
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile is a fine example. The institution now tops the table, marking the first time that a university outside Brazil is number one in the region, thanks to great progress in its scores for research environment and industry income.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) is now fourth, up from seventh last year, having made significant improvements in its scores for teaching and research environment.
There is also real progress being made at the national level in at least some Latin American countries. Chile is a great highlight in the region. As Oxford professorof higher education Simon Marginson observes in this supplement (page 9), Chile’s research output is increasing significantly despite relatively constrained funding. Its volume of research papers grew at an average annual rate of 8 per cent in the decade between 2006 and 2016, compared with the world average of 3.9 per cent. Quality has improved alongside greater quantity. Colombia, too, has seen its research output increase by 16.2 per cent during the same period.
Moreover, the expansion of this ranking itself constitutes a powerful positive sign of change in the region. In the inaugural edition of the THE Latin America University Rankings in 2016, there were only 50 participating universities. In 2017, there were 82, and last year there were 129. Today’s 2019 edition includes 150 ranked institutions from 12 countries, across Latin America and the Caribbean. This suggests an increasing willingness of institutions across the region to open themselves up to greater scrutiny, to put themselves on a global stage, and to share data to help them track their performance and their progress against global data benchmarks.
As I wrote last year, THE believes passionately that greater accountability and transparency in higher education, as a result of more information being made available for public engagement and more data analysed for universities’ global benchmarking, will play a major role in helping Latin American institutions to improve.
Phil Baty is chief knowledge officer at Times Higher Education.
Despite the turmoil racking Venezuela and Brazil, there are bright spots in Latin America’s higher education landscape. Rachael Pells reports
June 18, 2019
Browse the full Times Higher EducationLatinAmerica University Rankings 2019 results
Political and economic upheavals have been sweeping through the western hemisphere, and Latin America has witnessed dramatic changes in the past 12 months. The region has endured civil unrest, three presidential elections and widespread migration. The impact that such events have had on higher education tends not to make mainstream news headlines – even if it is no less significant.
Abject poverty in Venezuela combined with a continuing political stand-off between the president, Nicolás Maduro, and the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, to leave universities in a mire this year, desperately low on resources and with staff and students too poor to travel to campuses.
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In Brazil, the country’s controversial new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been accused of failing to deliver on promises to invest in science and research – increasing the ideological and political distance between his right-wing supporters and the academic community.
But 2018 also brought positive developments to celebrate. Chile established its first Ministry of Science, giving its academic community hope for a future in which research is better funded and prioritised. And a major project got under way to connect communities in the Amazon to the internet – allowing many prospective students and professionals access to a university education for the first time.
For much of the Latin American region, however, the higher education sector continued to grapple with familiar challenges. Lack of funding and resources for research, coupled with a brain drain of young talent, presents a threat to much of the area’s development. For Brazil and Venezuela especially, these problems are likely to intensify in coming months, driving ever more students and skilled professionals to consider their options elsewhere.
In the view of Fernanda Estevan, associate professor at the São Paulo School of Economics, Brazil’s historically strong research reputation will not be eroded overnight. But, she says, “there is a lot of uncertainty ahead”.
“In Brazil, federal and state universities conduct most of the academic research, with a few exceptions in the private sector,” she explains, but the new presidential administration has “no concrete plans for federal institutions”.
“The Ministry of Education has been operating erratically and ideologically. If this situation persists, it could cause severe damage to educational and research institutions in the long term.”
With his promise to revive the nation’s faltering economy, Bolsonaro, a former paratrooper and self-professed Donald Trump fan, was elected by a landslide in October. To help achieve that turnaround, he pledged to raise spending on research and development from 1 per cent to 3 per cent of gross domestic product. But academics have openly expressed scepticism that such a bold investment will actually be made at a time when public funding seems scant and universities a low priority.
To complicate matters further, the administration is already on to its second education minister since January. When Bolsonaro’s first education minister, Ricardo Vélez, faced Congress in March, he was criticised by opposition members for his failure to have prepared any concrete policy plan in his three months in the role. Days later, he was sacked and replaced by an economist with family ties to the government.
And yet, for many in higher education, it is not the procession of politically connected businessmen moving into ministerial roles in itself that is most troubling.
“We continue to have a minister who has no idea of his role, is unaware of the real problems of Brazilian education and has a fanciful ideological discourse,” says Frederico Dourado Morais, professor of pedagogy at the State University of Goiás. Bolsonaro’soutspoken dissatisfaction with the university sector, tied with reports of his party’s proposed “ideological indoctrination” of schools, colleges and university degree courses, are the real cause for alarm, he says.
A series of shocking headlines – from reports of police invasions of university campuses to plans for the introduction of an “ideological test” to ensure that only the politically right-leaning retain access to scholarships abroad – have caused great anxiety and worry among many Brazilian academics, particularly those old enough to remember the country’s era of military dictatorship. But the picture is complex and, according to many, hints at a deeper drive to unnerve public sector workers with the aim of dampening any political challenge from them.
According to Adriana Marotti de Mello, professor of business at the University of São Paulo, there is also a clear pattern of Brazilian politicians using the public system – and universities in particular – as pawns in their political battles. Although infighting over the purpose and value of public universities “has always been an issue”, fuelled by the class divide and the fact that “Brazilian elites (with few exceptions) do not like knowledge and research…this level of attack is quite new”, she says.
As it happens, targeted investment in the expansion of the federal education system – including university admissions quotas for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and federal grants to pay up to 100 per cent of tuition fee costs at private institutions – have been largely successful in shrinking the social mobility gap over the past two decades.
But not everyone is pleased to see this change in the landscape, Marotti says. “Public universities have been an elite space for many decades, but now many people from lower and middle classes have gained access…which may have displeased part of this elite. So universities become part of a wider social dispute,” she says.
“I think we can always debate the issues of public expenditure, budgets, whether universities should be privately or publicly funded, but [the difference is] now we are experiencing a threat from people who do not respect scientific knowledge.”
While the rapid and dramatic changes happening in Brazil offer no shortage of scandalous headlines in the rest of the world, they obscure some of the genuine progress that is being made in Latin America.
According to Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at the University of Oxfordand director of the Centre for Global Higher Education, Chile is one country that is performing well above expectations.
“The main issues [there] are the perennial ones – tuition [costs], with the government under large-scale mass pressure to phase out fees, and relations between the public and private higher education sectors,” he says. And yet, “Chile is lifting its research performance…and both public and private universities figure in the rankings” – a significant victory given the country’s past science funding struggles.
Meanwhile, Marginson’s own analysis reveals Colombia to be another country where research is improving rapidly – having grown in output by 16.2 per cent between 2006 and 2016. Comparatively, “Mexico and Argentina chronically underperform in higher education and research, and arguably other sectors, given their [low] level of per capita income”.
The most recent figures assembled by the US National Science Foundation show Chile with an average annual growth of 8 per cent in research papers between 2006 and 2016, compared with the world average of 3.9 per cent – evidence that its research sector punches well above its weight given the country’s small population.
It is also worth noting that Chile’s impressive research figures coincide with its high score for tackling inequality – coming sixth in the world for “reduced inequalities” in Times Higher Education ’s inaugural University Impact Rankings , which measure institutions’ research on social inequalities, their policies on discrimination and their commitment to recruiting a diverse body of staff and students. The “reduced inequalities” analysis was based on the top 100 of the table and excluded nations with fewer than three ranked institutions.
Chile has traditionally had a strong reputation as a progressive, equal opportunity state and is renowned for its gratuidad scheme, which covers tuition fees for students from the poorest 60 per cent of families. The sector is now under pressure to expand free tuition to all students, no matter their background. There has been talk of introducing gender quotas for academic posts in public institutions, and university leaders, by and large, spoke out in support last year when students joined the global #MeToo movement against sexual harassment with their own mass protests.
It is hoped that the country’s science sector will continue to thrive with the help of the Ministry of Science – whose creation observers have described as the biggest reform to the sector in half a century, complementing the government’s ambition to improve Chile’s economic competitiveness and to bring it closer “towards an information and knowledge society”.
There are many issues for the new minister to address, but Claudio Ruff, rector of Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins University, believes the government has “the right person for the job”. Andrés Couve, who is head of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Chile’s medical school, “has a scientific background…is well known and respected…[and] has a holistic vision [for] both academia and politics”, all of which will be “important” in building bridges between the government and scientists, he says.
Despite the glowing research output figures, Ruff says “scientific production…will be a challenge” for the minister because “investment in innovation and development is still very low”.
Overall, Chile’s progress arguably stands out more sharply because of the struggles of its neighbours. But it has undoubtedly made advances, and key to continuing that success will be boosting research and development funding, which currently stands at less than 0.5 per cent of public spending.
Ultimately for Chile, and many of Latin America’s aspiring knowledge economies, the difference will come down to private investment. The ability to secure interest from committed third parties willing to invest in science and innovation will help the region to establish itself as a strong contender for global research. Likewise, the steady privatisation of university sectors may not be welcomed by all, but it will provide some security against the economic turbulence ahead.
|
Rank |
Name |
Overall |
Citations |
Industry Income |
International Outlook |
Research |
Teaching |
|
1 |
88.6 |
89.7 |
98.9 |
92.3 |
99.8 |
75.1 |
|
|
2 |
88.0 |
74.9 |
56.0 |
59.9 |
100.0 |
91.7 |
|
|
3 |
87.8 |
71.0 |
71.8 |
57.1 |
99.9 |
92.6 |
|
|
4 |
85.5 |
67.5 |
100.0 |
76.7 |
98.6 |
84.1 |
|
|
5 |
84.1 |
75.6 |
99.9 |
87.4 |
96.2 |
77.9 |
|
|
6 |
84.0 |
83.0 |
41.0 |
42.3 |
88.1 |
95.9 |
|
|
7 |
83.0 |
82.4 |
36.9 |
80.6 |
92.2 |
77.4 |
|
|
8 |
82.5 |
80.3 |
52.0 |
52.5 |
88.6 |
89.6 |
|
|
9 |
81.4 |
86.0 |
46.9 |
81.6 |
87.3 |
75.9 |
|
|
10 |
79.7 |
41.9 |
45.3 |
41.7 |
98.5 |
93.4 |
|
|
11 |
79.2 |
78.6 |
76.6 |
33.1 |
92.1 |
83.3 |
|
|
12 |
78.8 |
73.7 |
51.9 |
46.6 |
83.8 |
88.7 |
|
|
13 |
77.5 |
58.2 |
40.4 |
44.9 |
86.9 |
93.9 |
|
|
14 |
75.5 |
50.3 |
97.9 |
78.9 |
91.7 |
76.3 |
|
|
15 |
74.6 |
61.0 |
36.9 |
51.0 |
84.0 |
85.8 |
|
|
16 |
71.7 |
42.7 |
60.5 |
34.8 |
86.5 |
85.8 |
|
|
17 |
69.3 |
33.2 |
79.4 |
29.7 |
85.2 |
81.4 |
|
|
18 |
68.9 |
81.0 |
43.6 |
39.0 |
84.1 |
63.5 |
|
|
19 |
68.4 |
53.1 |
51.5 |
30.9 |
80.9 |
74.6 |
|
|
=20 |
68.3 |
91.6 |
41.7 |
65.6 |
69.6 |
68.5 |
|
|
=20 |
68.3 |
76.8 |
84.2 |
27.3 |
73.0 |
66.4 |
|
|
22 |
68.2 |
39.4 |
39.9 |
49.4 |
85.8 |
72.3 |
|
|
23 |
67.6 |
50.3 |
84.8 |
66.4 |
79.2 |
66.0 |
|
|
24 |
67.5 |
44.6 |
49.5 |
62.6 |
86.5 |
65.9 |
|
|
25 |
66.9 |
99.7 |
37.4 |
46.2 |
70.9 |
55.6 |
|
|
26 |
66.8 |
31.7 |
39.0 |
26.4 |
80.4 |
84.8 |
|
|
27 |
66.6 |
96.4 |
39.1 |
68.2 |
66.3 |
59.9 |
|
|
28 |
66.5 |
99.8 |
37.9 |
57.7 |
66.1 |
58.0 |
|
|
29 |
66.4 |
38.7 |
41.9 |
23.4 |
73.4 |
90.0 |
|
|
30 |
66.2 |
36.1 |
49.7 |
24.9 |
80.1 |
83.6 |
|
|
31 |
66.1 |
52.6 |
36.5 |
30.8 |
81.9 |
78.6 |
|
|
32 |
65.7 |
99.2 |
36.8 |
73.9 |
67.9 |
51.5 |
|
|
33 |
63.4 |
34.3 |
39.2 |
31.0 |
80.1 |
76.6 |
|
|
34 |
62.5 |
25.8 |
92.4 |
24.9 |
85.9 |
65.8 |
|
|
35 |
61.9 |
59.7 |
38.8 |
44.8 |
70.4 |
72.3 |
|
|
36 |
60.8 |
39.2 |
58.4 |
40.3 |
78.6 |
62.3 |
|
|
37 |
60.2 |
97.9 |
36.5 |
61.7 |
51.4 |
48.4 |
|
|
38 |
60.0 |
61.0 |
38.5 |
71.3 |
67.2 |
59.2 |
|
|
39 |
59.6 |
40.2 |
36.5 |
21.3 |
78.7 |
68.9 |
|
|
40 |
59.4 |
39.2 |
55.0 |
25.5 |
64.2 |
71.3 |
|
|
41 |
58.8 |
62.5 |
41.3 |
52.8 |
68.4 |
51.3 |
|
|
42 |
58.5 |
81.6 |
36.7 |
62.9 |
59.1 |
40.8 |
|
|
43 |
56.8 |
57.8 |
36.8 |
73.1 |
56.6 |
56.5 |
|
|
44 |
55.9 |
40.6 |
41.9 |
31.4 |
66.1 |
65.5 |
|
|
45 |
55.5 |
60.5 |
94.4 |
67.9 |
58.2 |
44.9 |
|
|
46 |
55.3 |
34.2 |
38.5 |
18.9 |
66.0 |
66.5 |
|
|
47 |
54.6 |
63.2 |
37.2 |
74.0 |
51.2 |
45.3 |
|
|
48 |
54.3 |
11.0 |
57.1 |
72.0 |
58.3 |
77.6 |
|
|
49 |
53.7 |
92.5 |
38.4 |
42.6 |
40.1 |
49.8 |
|
|
50 |
53.2 |
31.4 |
57.6 |
21.7 |
70.3 |
67.3 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
82.9 |
38.9 |
88.8 |
37.5 |
30.9 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
68.9 |
77.5 |
73.9 |
31.9 |
43.0 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
40.9 |
37.4 |
25.5 |
54.6 |
54.8 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
99.9 |
36.5 |
72.9 |
43.3 |
18.7 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
79.0 |
36.5 |
20.6 |
39.7 |
50.4 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
44.8 |
61.9 |
25.4 |
54.7 |
65.3 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
92.7 |
72.2 |
87.6 |
33.7 |
30.5 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
72.1 |
36.5 |
46.4 |
43.6 |
62.1 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
40.8 |
44.7 |
79.6 |
59.5 |
37.4 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
39.8 |
97.7 |
42.2 |
42.0 |
62.1 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
23.5 |
36.5 |
42.6 |
63.5 |
56.7 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
46.0 |
51.9 |
45.8 |
53.7 |
39.6 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
25.0 |
53.0 |
26.9 |
66.9 |
53.7 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
94.0 |
36.8 |
84.9 |
26.0 |
40.4 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
55.7 |
40.8 |
78.0 |
53.9 |
19.4 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
30.1 |
38.0 |
26.3 |
52.2 |
55.2 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
90.1 |
36.5 |
76.5 |
24.4 |
38.5 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
91.9 |
38.5 |
99.7 |
27.5 |
30.6 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
42.4 |
76.0 |
23.5 |
47.3 |
51.9 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
89.9 |
36.5 |
81.6 |
12.1 |
45.6 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
98.5 |
36.5 |
66.0 |
29.9 |
20.7 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
88.2 |
39.4 |
77.4 |
20.7 |
27.5 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
42.1 |
43.5 |
26.6 |
44.8 |
45.6 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
22.8 |
46.9 |
24.5 |
59.8 |
54.8 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
41.6 |
37.1 |
61.2 |
33.9 |
39.7 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
99.4 |
37.0 |
55.9 |
25.3 |
33.4 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
68.2 |
37.4 |
46.7 |
36.4 |
33.5 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
30.1 |
41.4 |
25.9 |
50.6 |
55.9 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
22.2 |
37.6 |
21.4 |
48.2 |
52.4 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
70.9 |
71.6 |
69.0 |
30.3 |
25.3 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
74.9 |
37.1 |
63.1 |
39.3 |
18.5 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
78.4 |
36.5 |
57.8 |
24.1 |
18.4 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
32.5 |
39.8 |
28.6 |
44.6 |
39.3 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
37.7 |
36.5 |
36.4 |
44.6 |
45.2 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
49.7 |
39.0 |
65.9 |
19.9 |
34.8 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
100.0 |
45.1 |
72.4 |
18.0 |
14.8 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
39.9 |
36.5 |
45.7 |
43.0 |
19.3 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
11.6 |
39.1 |
38.5 |
44.2 |
44.0 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
7.9 |
39.6 |
58.5 |
53.1 |
45.7 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
45.4 |
36.5 |
18.4 |
28.2 |
50.6 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
88.6 |
36.5 |
44.6 |
18.9 |
19.2 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
33.5 |
37.2 |
31.5 |
29.2 |
41.6 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
24.5 |
46.8 |
60.0 |
37.9 |
36.3 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
69.6 |
36.8 |
74.0 |
17.8 |
21.3 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
32.2 |
42.5 |
28.0 |
31.1 |
30.0 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
31.4 |
44.0 |
38.8 |
33.9 |
32.8 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
32.7 |
36.5 |
28.7 |
39.6 |
27.4 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
21.7 |
42.1 |
32.1 |
42.6 |
35.3 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
33.6 |
40.0 |
36.1 |
47.5 |
21.4 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
82.6 |
36.6 |
58.6 |
25.6 |
9.3 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
6.7 |
40.7 |
46.8 |
10.3 |
27.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
23.7 |
36.9 |
63.1 |
10.1 |
11.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
27.8 |
36.5 |
62.5 |
9.5 |
11.5 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
22.7 |
39.3 |
41.9 |
38.2 |
29.0 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
19.6 |
42.9 |
29.6 |
31.0 |
23.0 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
59.9 |
39.8 |
24.3 |
12.1 |
14.5 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
34.8 |
57.2 |
26.3 |
23.6 |
28.6 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
13.5 |
36.8 |
52.9 |
11.5 |
12.0 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
39.5 |
36.5 |
26.8 |
20.3 |
27.9 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
40.0 |
36.6 |
50.4 |
29.5 |
13.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
21.3 |
38.4 |
20.2 |
39.9 |
26.9 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
28.6 |
40.5 |
17.5 |
33.3 |
32.9 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
5.7 |
39.7 |
37.4 |
11.4 |
16.9 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
17.8 |
36.5 |
25.8 |
27.7 |
36.0 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
23.4 |
36.6 |
59.3 |
17.6 |
10.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
15.3 |
39.9 |
27.9 |
19.8 |
19.5 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
14.9 |
44.0 |
47.0 |
23.1 |
25.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
0.9 |
36.5 |
47.3 |
15.1 |
25.9 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
27.0 |
36.5 |
29.0 |
21.3 |
37.2 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
3.8 |
36.5 |
13.8 |
31.5 |
41.2 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
12.0 |
36.5 |
14.4 |
9.5 |
18.3 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
32.3 |
36.7 |
51.7 |
9.8 |
21.3 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
46.8 |
36.6 |
20.8 |
19.9 |
26.8 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
20.0 |
36.5 |
16.1 |
12.0 |
23.0 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
5.9 |
36.5 |
34.3 |
44.3 |
31.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
18.5 |
44.9 |
54.4 |
23.1 |
35.2 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
29.0 |
36.9 |
53.5 |
8.8 |
21.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
16.9 |
36.5 |
47.7 |
13.0 |
18.5 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
10.8 |
36.7 |
33.1 |
13.1 |
15.2 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
9.0 |
44.8 |
68.0 |
33.4 |
27.8 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
56.7 |
36.5 |
79.3 |
19.3 |
18.2 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
33.2 |
37.9 |
22.0 |
9.1 |
26.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
14.9 |
36.8 |
24.9 |
9.0 |
13.7 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
59.3 |
36.5 |
52.7 |
10.0 |
24.7 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
16.7 |
37.6 |
39.8 |
28.3 |
28.7 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
15.5 |
39.0 |
21.0 |
44.3 |
31.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
60.8 |
37.3 |
68.2 |
24.5 |
12.2 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
22.4 |
36.5 |
46.1 |
29.3 |
21.8 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
26.8 |
36.7 |
18.4 |
28.2 |
42.7 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
43.5 |
36.5 |
47.8 |
8.8 |
27.6 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
77.6 |
36.6 |
46.4 |
12.6 |
14.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
24.1 |
36.8 |
38.7 |
29.2 |
18.5 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
24.2 |
36.5 |
14.3 |
22.6 |
18.9 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
23.3 |
41.2 |
31.8 |
30.7 |
31.3 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
41.3 |
36.5 |
68.1 |
27.5 |
13.2 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
39.4 |
40.1 |
25.8 |
13.7 |
20.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
17.4 |
42.5 |
53.9 |
29.0 |
18.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
18.9 |
36.6 |
21.7 |
27.9 |
38.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
46.4 |
40.6 |
20.2 |
11.9 |
32.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
10.3 |
38.2 |
17.2 |
47.2 |
25.8 |
1 to 150 of 150 – Page 1 of 1
Show 102550100All entries
|
Rank |
Name |
Overall |
Citations |
Industry Income |
International Outlook |
Research |
Teaching |
|
1 |
88.6 |
89.7 |
98.9 |
92.3 |
99.8 |
75.1 |
|
|
7 |
83.0 |
82.4 |
36.9 |
80.6 |
92.2 |
77.4 |
|
|
23 |
67.6 |
50.3 |
84.8 |
66.4 |
79.2 |
66.0 |
|
|
24 |
67.5 |
44.6 |
49.5 |
62.6 |
86.5 |
65.9 |
|
|
42 |
58.5 |
81.6 |
36.7 |
62.9 |
59.1 |
40.8 |
|
|
43 |
56.8 |
57.8 |
36.8 |
73.1 |
56.6 |
56.5 |
|
|
45 |
55.5 |
60.5 |
94.4 |
67.9 |
58.2 |
44.9 |
|
|
47 |
54.6 |
63.2 |
37.2 |
74.0 |
51.2 |
45.3 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
82.9 |
38.9 |
88.8 |
37.5 |
30.9 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
68.9 |
77.5 |
73.9 |
31.9 |
43.0 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
99.9 |
36.5 |
72.9 |
43.3 |
18.7 |
|
|
51–60 |
49.1–53.0 |
92.7 |
72.2 |
87.6 |
33.7 |
30.5 |
|
|
61–70 |
45.7–48.5 |
55.7 |
40.8 |
78.0 |
53.9 |
19.4 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
98.5 |
36.5 |
66.0 |
29.9 |
20.7 |
|
|
71–80 |
41.8–45.6 |
70.9 |
71.6 |
69.0 |
30.3 |
25.3 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
74.9 |
37.1 |
63.1 |
39.3 |
18.5 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
78.4 |
36.5 |
57.8 |
24.1 |
18.4 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
100.0 |
45.1 |
72.4 |
18.0 |
14.8 |
|
|
81–90 |
36.4–41.4 |
39.9 |
36.5 |
45.7 |
43.0 |
19.3 |
|
|
91–100 |
34.1–35.9 |
24.5 |
46.8 |
60.0 |
37.9 |
36.3 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
23.7 |
36.9 |
63.1 |
10.1 |
11.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
27.8 |
36.5 |
62.5 |
9.5 |
11.5 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
13.5 |
36.8 |
52.9 |
11.5 |
12.0 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
40.0 |
36.6 |
50.4 |
29.5 |
13.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
32.3 |
36.7 |
51.7 |
9.8 |
21.3 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
29.0 |
36.9 |
53.5 |
8.8 |
21.1 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
22.4 |
36.5 |
46.1 |
29.3 |
21.8 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
77.6 |
36.6 |
46.4 |
12.6 |
14.4 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
41.3 |
36.5 |
68.1 |
27.5 |
13.2 |
|
|
101+ |
15.1–33.4 |
17.4 |
42.5 |
53.9 |
29.0 |
18.1 |
Latin America University Rankings 2019: methodology
The World University Rankings performance indicators are the heart of the Latin America University Rankings, but we give them some adjustments to take account of the area’s unique characteristics
June 14, 2019
Browse the full Times Higher EducationLatinAmerica University Rankings 2019 results
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are the only global performance tables that judge research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The Latin America University Rankings uses the same 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and even governments – but the weightings are specially recalibrated to reflect the characteristics of emerging economy universities.
The performance indicators are grouped into five areas: Teaching (the learning environment); Research (volume, income and reputation); Citations (research influence); International outlook (staff, students and research); and Industry income (knowledge transfer).
READ MORE
Latin America University Rankings 2019: hard ground but hints of rich fruit
Teaching (the learning environment): 36%
The most recent Academic Reputation Survey (run annually) that underpins this category was carried out in January to March 2019. It examined the perceived prestige of institutions in teaching. We have worked hard to ensure a balanced spread of responses across disciplines and countries. Where disciplines or countries were over- or underrepresented, THE’s data team weighted the responses to more closely reflect the actual distribution of scholars. The 2019 data are combined with the results of the 2018 survey, giving more than 21,000 responses.
As well as giving a sense of how committed an institution is to nurturing the next generation of academics, a high proportion of postgraduate research students also suggests the provision of teaching at the highest level that is thus attractive to graduates and effective at developing them. This indicator is normalised to take account of a university’s unique subject mix, reflecting that the volume of doctoral awards varies by discipline.
Institutional income is scaled against academic staff numbers and normalised for purchasing-power parity (PPP). It indicates an institution’s general status and gives a broad sense of the infrastructure and facilities available to students and staff.
Research (volume, income and reputation): 34%
The most prominent indicator in this category looks at a university’s reputation for research excellence among its peers, based on the responses to our annual Academic Reputation Survey (see left).
Research income is scaled against academic staff numbers and adjusted for PPP. This is a controversial indicator because it can be influenced by national policy and economic circumstances. But income is crucial to the development of world-class research, and because much of it is subject to competition and judged by peer review, our experts suggested that it was a valid measure. This indicator is fully normalisedto take account of each university’s distinct subject profile, reflecting the fact that research grants in science subjects are often bigger than those awarded for the highest-quality social science, arts and humanities research.
To measure productivity we count the volume of scholarly output including articles, reviews, conference proceedings, books and book chapters indexed by Elsevier’s Scopus database per scholar, scaled for institutional size and normalised for subject. This gives a sense of the university’s ability to get papers published in quality peer-reviewed journals.
Citations (research influence): 20%
Our research influence indicator looks at universities’ role in spreading new knowledge and ideas.
We examine research influence by capturing the average number of times a university’s published work is cited by scholars globally. This year, our bibliometric data supplier Elsevier examined 67.9 million citations to 14.1 million journal articles, article reviews, conference proceedings, books and book chapters published over five years. The data include more than 25,000 academic journals indexed by Elsevier’s Scopus database and all indexed publications between 2013 and 2017. Citations to these publications made in the six years from 2013 to 2018 are also collected.
The citations help to show us how much each university is contributing to the sum of human knowledge: they tell us whose research has stood out, has been picked up and built on by other scholars and, most importantly, has been shared around the global scholarly community to expand the boundaries of our understanding, irrespective of discipline.
The data are normalised to reflect variations in citation volume between different subject areas. This means that institutions with high levels of research activity in subjects with traditionally high citation counts do not gain an unfair advantage.
In 2015-16, we excluded papers with more than 1,000 authors because they were having a disproportionate impact on the citation scores of a small number of universities. In 2016-17, we designed a method for reincorporating these papers. Working with Elsevier, we have developed a new fractional counting approach that ensures that all universities where academics are authors of these papers will receive at least 5 per cent of the value of the paper, and where those that provide the most contributors to the paper receive a proportionately larger contribution.
International outlook (staff, students, research): 7.5%
The ability of a university to attract undergraduates, postgraduates and faculty from all over the planet is key to its success on the world stage.
In the third international indicator, we calculate the proportion of a university’s total research publications that have at least one international co-author and reward higher volumes. This indicator is normalised to account for a university’s subject mix and uses the same five-year window as the “Citations: research influence” category.
Industry income (knowledge transfer): 2.5%
A university’s ability to help industry with innovations, inventions and consultancy has become a core mission of the contemporary global academy. This category seeks to capture such knowledge-transfer activity by looking at how much research income an institution earns from industry (adjusted for PPP), scaled against the number of academic staff it employs.
The category suggests the extent to which businesses are willing to pay for research and a university’s ability to attract funding in the commercial marketplace – useful indicators of institutional quality.
Exclusions
Universities are excluded from the Latin America University Rankings if they do not teach undergraduates or if their research output amounted to fewer than 200 publications between 2013 and 2017. Universities can also be excluded if 80 per cent or more of their research output is exclusively in one of our 11 subject areas.
Data collection
Institutions provide and sign off their institutional data for use in the rankings. On the rare occasions when a particular data point is not provided, we enter a conservative estimate. By doing this, we avoid penalising an institution too harshly with a “zero” value for data that it overlooks or does not provide, but we do not reward it for withholding them.
Getting to the final result
Moving from a series of specific data points to indicators, and finally to a total score for an institution, requires us to match values that represent fundamentally different data. To do this we use a standardisation approach for each indicator, and then combine the indicators in the proportions indicated to the right.
The standardisation approach we use is based on the distribution of data within a particular indicator, where we calculate a cumulative probability function, and evaluate where a particular institution’s indicator sits within that function.
For all indicators except for the Academic Reputation Survey we calculate the cumulative probability function using a version of Z-scoring. The distribution of the data in the Academic Reputation Survey requires us to add an exponential component.
Latin America University Rankings 2019: market momentum
Despite concerns in some quarters of Brazil, for-profit universities are thriving, helping to expand the country’s sector, says Dante Salto
June 18, 2019
Source: Getty
Browse the full Times Higher EducationLatinAmerica University Rankings 2019 results
Latin America once epitomised public sector monopoly in higher education, with only a few private institutions to speak of. Last year, however, the Program for Research on Private Higher Education (PROPHE), a global scholarly network, released a dataset that showed that the formerly negligible private sector now enrols almost half of all students in that region and one in three students worldwide. In Latin America, the private sector overall has consolidated its position as a viable higher education option, as long as it adopts a non-profit nature, despite much opposition from the public sector.
Although private sector growth is hardly a novelty, higher education has in recent decades faced challenges from a new entrant: private for-profit institutions. For-profits lack legitimacy in the eyes of many in government, industry leaders and much of the general public. Opponents argue that profit distorts the mission of higher education institutions and introduces misguided incentives. Proponents claim that for-profits fulfil a wider public purpose that neither the public nor the private non-profit institutions do.
READ MORE
Latin America University Rankings 2019: join in common cause
For-profits earned a tarnished reputation in the US, where some operators’ behaviour sparked a public outcry that, in 2014, prompted Barack Obama’s administration to require for-profits and vocational programmes to prove that they were preparing students for “gainful employment”. Donald Trump’s administration has since sought to revoke this rule.
Although some observers have raised concerns about the quality of education provided by for-profits in Brazil, convenience has mostly won the battle against controversy, at least when it comes to government support. The country’s for-profit sector enrols slightly more than four out of 10 students in higher education, while the private sector overall accounts for more than seven out of 10 students. Despite some efforts to expand public, tuition-free universities during the administration of Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva (2003-10), the public sector enrols only a quarter of students.
The vast scale of the for-profit sector in Brazil is not only a matter of enrolment share. As the most powerful economy in Latin America and the ninth globally, Brazil has one of the world’s largest higher education systems, behind only China, India and the US. More than 8 million Brazilians enrol in higher education annually, compared with 3.4 million students in Mexico, 2.9 million in Argentina, 2.2 million in Colombia and 1.2 million in Chile.
Rather than being overlooked by federal administrations in Brazil, the private sector, including for-profits, grew out of government design. First, by the end of the 1990s, Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s administration allowed the establishment of for-profit enterprises in higher education. Many non-profits that had allegedly been behaving as for-profits changed their tax status.
Second, for-profit enrolments skyrocketed during da Silva’s administration. Although his election platform opposed the new private entrants, the policies he introduced in power incentivised for-profits’ growth through the overhaul and expansion of a long-standing student loan programme and the introduction of extensive tax benefits.
Government promotion of the private sector is seen as a convenient, lower-cost way to expand system capacity. In Brazil, public higher education institutions are fully subsidised – students pay no tuition fees – and they have high running costs. Expanding access through the more prestigious, research-intensive public sector is three times costlier than it is through private institutions.
Lately, many are voicing concerns about the growth of large, publicly traded home-grown education companies. Estimates indicate that the 10 largest Brazilian for-profit companies enrol about 40 per cent of the private sector students in the country. One of the largest, Kroton Educacional, surpasses the well-known US-based for-profit provider Laureate Education in terms of net income.
Recently, Brazil’s antitrust agency rejected a merger proposal between Kroton and Estácio, the country’s second largest for-profit provider, citing market competition issues. Some observers wonder to what extent the growth of these corporations may show a trend towards declining quality of higher education. Notably, these companies are taking advantage of the financial crisis to buy free-standing institutions or to absorb smaller companies. As the operators expand, they could become a hindrance to the federal government’s ability to properly regulate the sector.
However, regardless of the controversy caused by this new player, by and large for-profits in Brazil serve a demand that the public sector has not been able to meet, and they seem to have settled into the higher education landscape.
Dante J. Salto is postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Humanities at National University of Cordoba.
Latin America University Rankings 2019: join in common cause
The region as a whole needs to reform its university sector to better serve its citizens, and that requires collaboration, argues Efraín Gonzales de Olarte
June 18, 2019
Browse the full Times Higher EducationLatinAmerica University Rankings 2019 results
Higher education is undergoing a transformation worldwide. It is hard to predict what shape the system might take in the future, but it seems that higher education, both scholarly and technical, will eventually be universally available to all.
The services provided by universities will become more varied and flexible to better meet the needs of students, employers and society more widely. Information technology will play a more important role in teaching; artificial intelligence, the internet of things, big data and blockchain will be powerful tools for teaching and research.
READ MORE
Latin America University Rankings 2019: let’s challenge students
At the same time, students’ and scholars’ national and international mobility will expand, and people will demand different types of lifelong learning.
In this dynamic context, higher education institutions will come under pressure to provide more access to students from different backgrounds; to adapt as education evolves and becomes ever more interdisciplinary; to generate knowledge and innovations that enable us to solve national problems from an increasingly global perspective; and to develop responsible citizens.
In Latin America, reforms are under way in almost every country. The adjustments differ depending on a system’s mix of public and private provision, the quality of education that institutions offer and the allocation of resources. In all cases, however, serious concerns about quality and accountability are at the heart of the efforts.
The nations of Latin America must change rapidly, but they are handicapped by meagre investments in higher education, science and technology and also by inflexible institutional frameworks.
Across the region, we still struggle to ensure that all those who finish high school have the necessary tools and skills to succeed at university; there are significant differences in the quality of education at different universities; we do not incorporate and make the most of technological improvements; and we rarely use AI to teach.
While countries pin their hopes on higher education institutions, they neglect to provide them with the necessary resources. In Peru, for instance, public universities invest $2,500 (£1,900) per student on average, and private ones invest $2,000, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Education and its quality assurance agency SUNEDU. In comparison, the average investment per student for countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development was $15,500 in 2016.
The poor quality of higher education in Latin America, combined with the need for universities in the region to compete internationally, means that there is demand for greater financial and human resources and for genuine and enduring political commitment. Without these, it is unlikely that universities will fulfil their educational and research missions to promote the development of their communities and countries.
Furthermore, universities’ educational costs tend only to rise over time given the always increasing costs of maintaining and expanding infrastructure, keeping up with technological developments and attracting and retaining talented staff. To address this issue, we need to make important decisions about the nature, scale and distribution of public expenditure, taxation, scholarship programmes and educational loans, in addition to setting investment goals.
If the university sector in Latin America is to change, it must join the international mainstream in embracing what could be called “the need for a permanent revolution in higher education”. This involves developing new ways of working, streamlining decision-making processes and strengthening technological and educational skills. The challenges ahead mean there is a lot of work to do, and we can most efficiently tackle them if institutions work together.
Efraín Gonzales de Olarte is president of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
Latin America University Rankings 2019: let’s challenge students
David Garza-Salazar explains why transforming the traditional education model will prepare students for real-world problems today and tomorrow
June 18, 2019
Browse the full Times Higher EducationLatinAmerica University Rankings 2019 results
Nowadays it is common to hear that we live in a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Accelerating changes are shaping our vision of the future. Universities have traditionally focused on making undergraduates ready to “face the world”, but today we are constantly reminded that when our students graduate they will go on to work in jobs that do not yet exist, using technologies that have not yet been invented, and solving problems that are not yet even on our radar.
This is a challenge for everyone in higher education worldwide. How can we better educate our students? Researchers and educators such as Stanford University’s Nobel laureate Carl Wieman and Harvard University’s Eric Mazur emphasise the importance of transforming the traditional learning models used in undergraduate education.
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Latin America University Rankings 2019: join in common cause
With this in mind, Monterrey Institute of Technology decided to overhaul its educational model. In 2013, a new model, which we dubbed “Tec21”, started to take shape with input from academics and education experts and insights from our visits to more than 40 universities around the world.
Tec21 is centred on four pillars: challenge-based learning; flexibility in how, when and where students learn; inspirational faculty; and an engaging university experience.
Challenge-based learning is the pillar that perhaps most differentiates Tec21 from traditional educational models.
A Chinese proverb says: “Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Involve me, and I understand.” Our challenge-based learning approach recognisesthe importance of actively involving students in tackling relevant problems within a real-world context, which is provided by challenges that are identified and selected by faculty together with an external partner from industry, non-governmental organisations, public sector bodies or specific communities.
Traditional models place the professor at the centre of the educational process; some more recent models place the student at the centre. Tec21 enshrines the challenge as the central motif that guides a learning process in which students and faculty interact closely.
Students are placed in situations where they have to connect, assess, enquire, innovate and propose solutions, requiring them to apply prior knowledge and skills as well as discover and develop new knowledge and capabilities necessary to master a challenge.
In traditional models, course design and delivery istypically performed by a single academic through lectures. In the new model, this is a collaborative and multidisciplinary activity performed by a team of faculty members who, together with the external partner, design the challenges to achieve the desired learning outcomes. We have incorporated into the curriculum activities traditionally considered to be extracurricular, such as social responsibility, leadership, entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and sensitivity and personal well-being. Students are also mentored by a team of faculty, which fosters closer relationships than lecture sessions.
We have deployed our new model incrementally, allowing us to test, measure and learn. In 2015, we launched “i-Week”, which involved more than 50,000 undergraduates from all disciplines in an immersive, week-long challenge-based learning experience. In 2016, we extended this experience to a full semester for some students.
Tec21 is a complex project. It has required upskilling and reskilling of faculty as well as changes to administrative processes and physical infrastructure across our 26 campuses in Mexico.
We have conducted studies to evaluate students’ academic achievement and engagement in this model, and we have assessed the learning experience with faculty. This has allowed us to identify areas for improvement. Finally, this autumn, after six years of continuous development, our 44 undergraduatedegree programmes will fully integrate all the elements of Tec21 into their curricula.
Implementing this model, in which more than 50 per cent of undergraduate learning will be based around challenges rather than traditional lecture-based courses, we hope that our students will not only acquire the knowledge and competencies of their discipline but will also learn to face uncertainty and change, to learn on their own, to solve complex problems, to adapt to new situations, and to develop crucial skills and values such as effective communication, critical thinking, entrepreneurial mindset, ethics and citizenship.
Previously, value resided in knowledge; today, it lies in what one can do with knowledge, in learning how to learn and in adapting rapidly to new situations. We believe that having followed Tec21, our graduates will not only be ready to get a job but will also be equipped to create their own opportunities and to contribute to the development of their community and the world.
David Garza-Salazar is rector of Monterrey Institute of Technology.
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