World Class Worldwide: Transforming Research Universities in Asia and Latin America

5 Prospects for World-Class Research Universities in India

5 Prospects for World-Class Research Universities in India P. V. Indiresan Universities generally perform three functions. At the most basic level, they impart knowledge derived from the past to a new generation of students : they teach. At the midlevel, they critically apprise past knowledge and distill its essence: they produce textbooks. At the highest level, they expand the frontiers of knowledge mainly by minute analysis: they do basic research. A few universities make breakthroughs, open completely new vistas of knowledge, or create knowledge revolutions, leading at times to new kinds of industry. A world-class research university may be described as one that supports teaching and research, preferably but not necessarily covering a wide range of disciplines (from the arts and humanities, to the social sciences, and science and technology);1 retains the freedom to decide autonomously what to teach, who will teach, and whom to teach; attracts students and recruits faculty from all over the world; and earns international honors like the Nobel Prize. Such a university will also have a vital undergraduate program. It goes without saying that it will be an elite institution, large enough to support a number of scholars in each discipline to stimulate and challenge one another. It will be so richly endowed that it can keep its doors open to brilliant but poor students. In other words, no university can become a research university unless it possesses the following qualities: dedicated, brilliant students; internationally acclaimed faculty; international-level financial support; and full academic freedom. Another relevant category to consider is institutions ranked a little below the world’s most famous, which may be called merely world-class universities because their research output does not compare well with that of the top institutions. These world-class universities offer good teaching, produce textbooks occasionally, and publish scholarly papers in refereed journals but not always based on cutting-edge research. Distinctions should be offered between a “flagship” university, a research university, and a mere world-class university. Flagship universities set the pace for others and provide a lead that others follow. Every country can have a flagship university (or may not have any) without it being either a research university or even a world-class teaching university. Likewise, not all research universities need to function as flagship universities if a country has many of them. STATUS OF INDIA’S HIGHER EDUCATION India’s higher education is like the girl in the nursery rhyme, of whom it was said: “when she was good, she was very, very good; when she was bad, she was horrid!” In recent decades, several Indian universities, particularly the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), have received worldwide acclaim for producing high-quality graduates.2 Indian graduates are highly valued all over the world in well-reputed universities and businesses. At times, they even inspire awe. IIT graduates have been pointedly depicted in a popular American cartoon “Dilbert.” India’s higher education must be good to earn such an accolade. Indian universities are well endowed with brilliant students, who are highly motivated because education is the fastest way to achieve social and economic advancement. Because of the common custom of the arrangedmarriage system, students avoid some of the distractions their Western counterparts face. However, few Indian scholars have written world-class textbooks, and their research output is patchy. No Indian university is anywhere near to becoming a research university; even the IITs are excellent teaching universities but not yet research universities. This noticeable difference between the quality of students and the poor research (even graduate-level) performance of Indian universities is a matter of concern. Although many scholars express anguish at the poor condition of India’s higher education institutions, they have generally been hesitant to take the problem head on. More often than not, they reconcile themselves to the weaknesses of the system. India has 13,000 to 14,000 colleges—no one can be sure exactly how many there are, as two to three new ones are added every day. This rapid increase is considered necessary because currently barely 6 percent of the 96 P. V. Indiresan cohort reach the tertiary level. Naturally, there is considerable rising social demand for college education—a situation made worse by escalation in entry qualifications required for most employment. This phenomenon, known as “diploma disease,” applies more to India than most countries because a university degree has become necessary even for jobs as...