Jenkins, A; Wolf, A; (2018) What's in a name? The impact of reputation and rankings on the teaching income of English universities. Higher Education Quarterly , 72 (4) pp. 286-303. 10.1111/hequ.12162.

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Abstract

In today’s global and knowledge-based economy, universities play an ever greater role both in determining individuals’ labour market success and in generating research than ever before. Tertiary enrolments have soared across all continents; moreover, very large number of students now study outside their countries of origin. Universities now operate in an environment characterised not just by globalisation itself but, as discussed below, by attendant changes in stratification systems and growing marketisation. (Altbach and Knight 2007; Marginson 2016) Funding has changed accordingly. Historically, universities were funded through private fees and charitable donations. Later, many governments moved to direct funding of public higher education, with no or very low charges to students. Government grants remain central to university funding but for the last quarter-century, governments under budgetary pressure have sought to increase private contributions and have re-introduced or raised tuition fees. Reputation and ‘brand’ are central to institutions’ success in the resulting competitive environment. (Molesworth, Scullion and Nixon eds, 2011, Blackmore 2016). The muchdiscussed growth in university rankings has had a major impact on reputational dynamics; and scholars have argued that higher education is increasingly subject to ‘winner-take-all’ forces, in which a few reputational winners receive large benefits (Frank and Cook 1995; Wolf 2002; Marginson 2014; Fowles et al 2016). If so, we can expect that reputational winners may, inter alia, derive direct financial benefits through an ability to charge higher fees. This article contributes novel empirical evidence by examining the relationship between reputation and teaching income across an entire national system, England. We ask “Is a university’s teaching income directly affected by reputation?’ and examine a number of reputational factors, including league tables. The findings have important policy implications.

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