When I peruse rankings of the 'best movies of all time', the question inevitably pops into my head: are these truly the favourite movies of the 'experts' who picked them, or are they the ones they think most people regard as the best?
The same thoughts come to mind when it comes to rankings of universities, institutions, graduate programmes or postdoctoral experiences. What are the criteria? Who's judging them, and on what basis? We recently suggested that rankings of the world's universities often cement reputations, rather than offering useful, tailored advice ( Nature 444, 395; 2006). Good reputations beget good evaluations, and hence even better reputations.
Rankings are not going unchallenged, however. Last week, dozens of American liberal-arts colleges banded together to criticize the famous U.S. News & World Report annual US college rankings. At a meeting of 80 college presidents and 71 deans from the Annapolis Group of private colleges, participants rejected that part of the U.S. News & World Report system that asks presidents to gauge other schools' reputations, and most of them expressed their intent to withdraw from the ranking exercise completely. Instead, they pledged to work towards providing the equivalent information in a fairer form. The meeting follows a letter in May from the Education Conservancy, a non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon, in which 12 college presidents asked colleges and universities not to provide information for the U.S. News list ( Nature 447, 514–515; 2007).
But although rankings are clearly less than perfect, they have a certain fascination. Perhaps it's the promise of guidance in a complicated world. Perhaps it's the irresistible desire to see where you fit in. Do I live in one of the top cities? Have I read the top novels? When it comes to higher education, though, should this instinctive response be resisted?
Get in touch and tell us what you think. Are college, graduate, and postdoc rankings useful, or are they a cottage industry that distorts more than it teaches and guides?