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An examination of global university rankings as a new mechanism influencing mission differentiation: the UK context AbstractSince their emergence a decade ago, global university rankings have become a powerful force in higher education internationally. The majority of research studies on global rankings have examined the effects at institutional and national level. This study offers a valuable perspective on ways rankings (and other international benchmarks) are deployed at the intra-sector level, by UK HE 'mission groups', to support different policy positions. The concept of object in activity theory is used to problematize the analysis. Critical discourse analysis is used as a methodological orientation to study the ways global rankings mediate the object in this context. The findings contribute to current debate on whether rankings are promoting isomorphism in national higher education sectors nationally; illustrating a differentiated engagement with rankings in the UK context. The relevance of the findings for policy makers and institutional managers are discussed.

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In little over a decade since their introduction, global rankings are perceived as having significant and problematic effects. The dominant 'normative' research orientation applied to the research domain of rankings is identified as a contributory factor to the sustained interest in rankings. The paper argues for a 'close-up' research orientation at this juncture to open up the debate and draw attention to alternative narratives of excellence in higher education through a discourse-analytic approach. The paper draws on an analysis of the use of global rankings by higher education sector 'mission groups' to influence national policy in UK, with particular focus on lobbying texts produced by these groups in the period surrounding the UK general election. The analysis demonstrates the strategic struggle for positioning in relation to higher education policy and reflects the different narratives of self-identification of the mission groups. The study draws attention to ways global university rankings mediate discourse and activity and illuminates alternative discourses which respond to rankings.