An examination of global university rankings as a new mechanism influencing mission differentiation : the UK context

Since their emergence a decade ago, global university rankings have become a powerful force in higher education internationally. The majority of research studies on global rankings have examined the effects at institutional and national level. This study offers a valuable perspective on ways rankings (and other international benchmarks) are deployed at the intra-sector level, by UK HE ‘mission groups’, to support different policy positions. The concept of object in activity theory is used to problematize the analysis. Critical discourse analysis is used as a methodological orientation to study the ways global rankings mediate the object in this context. The findings contribute to current debate on whether rankings are promoting isomorphism in national higher education sectors nationally; illustrating a differentiated engagement with rankings in the UK context. The relevance of the findings for policy makers and institutional managers are discussed.