Ranking Iranian universities: an interpretative structural modeling approach

Ranking is widely considered to be an important tool for evaluating the performance, competitiveness, and success of academic institutions. An appropriate ranking system should evaluate the key missions of the higher education system in a way that helps to improve the leadership goals and activities carried out by the universities. Based on the concepts derived from the Iranian Higher Education Upstream Documents and Measures used internationally for university ranking, this study identifies 21 key measures that can be used in the ranking of Iranian universities. The measures are grouped into five categories: scientific infrastructure, scientific effectiveness, socio-cultural effectiveness, international interactions, and sustainability. Then, using the Interpretative Structural Modeling approach, the researchers develop a coherent rubric for establishing the ranking. The proposed conceptual model focuses primarily on the universities’ contribution to technological and scientific infrastructure, then secondarily on their contribution to scientific advancement and international interactions, and finally at a tertiary level on their socio-cultural effectiveness and sustainability.