Quantitative Comparative Analysis of Country University Competitiveness: The Case of the Near East and South East Asian Countries

Abstract

Based on the literature review, a comparative analysis of the university systems of the countries of the Near East and South East Asia was carried out, and the leading countries in these groups were identified. To support the qualitative comparative analysis of these university systems, a quantitative methodology for calculating country university competitiveness has been developed. Since the largest number of universities in all countries of the world is included in the Webometrics Ranking, this methodology is illustrated by its example. It identifies two indicators - the total number of universities in the country and the average positioning of these universities in the selected ranking. After normalizing these indicators, they are aggregated in a multiplicative and additive way to obtain three integral indicators. The features of the discrepancy in the calculations for these integral indicators are explained. This methodology has been proposed to be tried on the example of other world university rankings.