Leading beyond Rankings: A Critical Conversation with University and Organisational Leadership

This document is an output of the CoARA Working Group TURN — Thinking Critically about University Rankings Network. It presents an anonymised transcript of the third and final Critical Conversation organised by TURN, held on 20 May 2026. The session brought together eight panelists — rectors, vice-rectors, pro-vice-chancellors, and professors in strategic roles from universities in Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom — for a moderated discussion on how university leaders engage with and are affected by global university rankings.

Key themes included the gap between formal and informal uses of rankings in leadership accountability; the tension between ranking logic and research culture commitments; the structural impossibility of unilateral disengagement; and the need for universities to communicate their own institutional identity rather than allowing rankings to define it.

The transcript constitutes a primary qualitative source on leadership perspectives on university rankings, intended for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working on research assessment reform. It is one of three transcripts produced by TURN as part of a wider evidence-building series.