Ranking European universities based on their level of internationalization: the European university-internationalization index

Abstract

University rankings proved to be a valuable tool which can attract the attention of various stakeholders, as they provide information which can later be used in decision-making processes. Therefore, after the introduction of the first world university ranking in 2003, the number of university rankings increased and their methodologies became more sophisticated. Nowadays, the rankings tend to rank universities based on several dimensions such as research, citations, reputation, teaching, and more. Although internationalization plays an important dimension in several rankings, none of them ranks universities solely based on the level of internationalization. Herein, we propose the European University-Internationalization Index, which aims to provide new insights on this topic of high importance. The suggested approach can serve as a foundation for future research on the internationalization of universities and university rankings.