Sustainable development in higher education: An in-depth analysis of Times Higher Education Impact Rankings

Abstract

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings (THE-IR), introduced in 2019, are a global initiative aimed at assessing Higher Education Institutions’ (HEIs) contributions to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since their introduction, THE-IR have sparked considerable interest and debate within the research community due to their potential to improve HEIs’ accountability but also the existence of some inconsistencies in the selected measurements. To address this issue, the paper analyses whether and to what extent THE-IR reflect HEIs’ sustainability level and commitment and examines the factors influencing HEIs’ decisions to participate in the ranking providing information on their sustainability performance across all the SDGs. Using data from the 2022 and 2023 THE-IR, this study confirms that they offer a robust overview of HEIs’ sustainability performances, though significant disparities exist in the behavior of HEIs in terms of participation. Finally, the study identifies overall SDG performance and geographical location as key factors influencing outperformer HEIs’ willingness to provide information on the full set of SDGs. • THE-IR mechanisms have raised both interest and concern in the research community. • THE-IR offer a consistent overview of overall HEIs’ sustainability level. • HEIs’ participation in THE-IR relates to their sustainability performance. • SDG performance and location influence HEIs’ choice to report all SDGs.