The Sophistry of University Rankings: Implications for Learning and Student Welfare

We present a data-based perspective concerning the recent "Maclean's" magazine rankings of Canadian universities, including cluster and other analyses of the 2007 and 2008 data. Canadian universities empirically resemble and relate to each other in a manner different from their formal classification and final rank ordering in the "Maclean's" system. Several pitfalls in ranking procedures, related to invalid and unreliable relationships among indices underlying the final ranks, are outlined, along with relevant findings from previous studies. In their present format, although they have become increasingly publicized and promoted, data based on the "Maclean's" system are of limited practical use to students. Perhaps more important, ranking exercises have unintended though potentially serious consequences in terms of the intellectual and personal well-being of students.