Why are Indian universities ranked so low in comparison to foreign universities?

Reasons why Indian universities don't rank well globally

India is home to some of the most prestigious and oldest educational institutions in the world, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and the University of Delhi. However, when it comes to global rankings, these institutions fail to make it to the top 100, let alone the top 10. Why is this so? What are the factors that prevent Indian universities from achieving global excellence and recognition?

There are several reasons for this poor performance, ranging from lack of funds, quality faculty, international exposure, research output, and innovation. Here are some of the major challenges that Indian universities face in the global arena:

Lack of funds

One of the biggest hurdles that Indian universities face is the shortage of funds. According to a report by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the average annual expenditure per student in India was Rs 55,595 in 2018-19, which is much lower than the global average of Rs 5.5 lakh. Moreover, most of the funding comes from the government, which imposes several restrictions and regulations on how the money can be spent. This limits the autonomy and flexibility of the universities to pursue their own vision and goals.

Lack of quality faculty

Another major challenge that Indian universities face is the lack of competent and qualified faculty members. According to a report by All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), there were 15.03 lakh teachers in higher education institutions in India in 2019-20, out of which only 57.5% had a PhD degree. Moreover, there is a huge shortage of faculty members, especially in technical and professional courses. The faculty-student ratio in India was 1:26 in 2019-20, which is much higher than the global standard of 1:15.

Lack of international exposure

One of the criteria that global ranking agencies use to evaluate universities is their internationalization, which includes the number of foreign faculty and students, international collaborations, exchange programs, and publications. However, Indian universities score very low on these parameters. For instance, according to QS World University Rankings 2022, only two Indian institutions had more than 10% international faculty members, and none had more than 10% international students. Moreover, Indian universities face several policy barriers and cultural challenges in attracting and retaining foreign talent.

Lack of research output and innovation

Another crucial factor that affects the global ranking of universities is their research output and innovation. This includes the number and quality of publications, citations, patents, awards, and impact. However, Indian universities lag behind their global counterparts in these aspects as well. According to Scimago Journal Rank (SJR), India ranked 12th in the world in terms of research publications in 2020, but only 36th in terms of citation impact. Moreover, according to WIPO, India ranked 48th in the world in terms of patent applications in 2019. Furthermore, according to Global Innovation Index (GII), India ranked 46th in the world in terms of innovation performance in 2020.

Conclusion

Indian universities have a long way to go before they can compete with the best in the world. They need to overcome several challenges and limitations that hamper their growth and development. They need to invest more in infrastructure, faculty development, student diversity, research excellence, and innovation culture. They need to adopt global best practices and standards and benchmark themselves against their peers. They need to showcase their achievements and strengths and improve their visibility and reputation. Only then can they hope to achieve global recognition and excellence.

Source: 

(1) India's Favourite IITs Dont Rank Well Globally, IIT-Delhi Director .... https://www.news18.com/news/education-career/indias-favourite-iits-dont-rank-globally-iit-delhi-director-explains-why-times-world-university-ranking-qs-3829946.html.

(2) Why Indian universities score dismally low in global rankings. https://indianexpress.com/article/education/why-indian-universities-score-dismally-low-in-global-rankings/.

(3) Why Indian Universities are not performing well in global rankings?. https://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/india/why-indian-universities-are-not-performing-well-in-global-rankings.

FAQ's

Why are Indian universities low ranked?

Infrastructure: Many Indian universities lack modern infrastructure, such as well-equipped laboratories, libraries, and classrooms, which can negatively impact the quality of education and research.

Why is IIT not in world ranking?

It is undoubtedly the fact that IITs are the best technical institutes in India and are the dream goals of the engineering aspirants which is why lakhs of students take JEE , but to become world level institutes like NUS,MIT, Havard etc IITs need to be upgraded in all aspects so that more and more aspirants of other ...

Why Indian University is not in top 100?

This is due to Indian schools faring poorly on the “perception” index, one of the six parameters used to gauge a university's academic reputation in the QS rankings. “Among all parameters, citations per faculty is the most definitive parameter and is taken from trusted databases.

Why Indian universities are not world class?

Poor Teaching Capacity: The QS World University Rankings 2022 revealed that although Indian universities have improved their performance on academic reputation metric and research impact, they continue to struggle on the teaching capacity metric. No Indian university ranks among the top 250 for faculty-student ratio.