Closing a governance blind spot
In discussions surrounding university rankings—whether in policy, administrative, or academic contexts—there is a persistent tendency to conflate two analytically distinct […]
Together, universities can take back control of their data
Each year, thousands of universities around the world send vast amounts of data to international ranking and analytics companies. These […]
What student vloggers teach us about university rankings
How do students think about rankings? We often encounter claims that university rankings exist for students, that students ‘use’ them […]
Student(-led) protests in Serbia 2024/25
Two texts, published on Wonhke and University World News, in which I am describing what is happening in Serbia and why it is important.
Datafying Universities
A short introduction into the research project I am currently leading, called “Datafying Universities: The social construction of organizations as statistical units.” The project is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the duration of 3 years (2024-2027).
“Changing a university is like moving a graveyard”: a history of an analogy
If you are not entirely new to higher education research, policy, or practice, chances are you have come across the […]
Some notes on the history of “quantified gossip”
The invitations from rankers to complete “reputation surveys” are, once again, making rounds. It’s as good an occasion as any […]