The Landscape of Higher Education and the Dynamics of Reputation

Stefania Giannini (2026), UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education, states that higher education systems play a strategic and irreplaceable role in building more sustainable, peaceful, and just societies. This role was recognised at the World Conference on Higher Education organised by UNESCO in 1998 and 2009, which led to greater attention to higher education as a state responsibility and a public good. Referring to that statement, higher education as a whole, besides having academic responsibilities, also bears moral and social responsibilities to realise sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as addressing poverty, quality education, gender equality, and economic growth. Research is not only directed towards scientific publications per se, but also has direct impacts on society in various fields, so that the contributions of higher education can be felt. This aligns with UNESCO’s view as affirmed in the newly published 2026 Higher Education Roadmap titled Transforming Higher Education: Global Collaboration on Visioning and Action. The roadmap states, ‘Higher education systems stand at the heart of social progress, driving knowledge creation and innovation worldwide, by deepening collaboration and reinforcing their public mission’. Higher education systems are at the heart of social progress, driving knowledge creation and innovation worldwide, by deepening collaboration and strengthening their public missions. In line with UNESCO’s role as the United Nations specialised agency for education, entrusted to lead and coordinate the Education 2030 Agenda as a global movement to eradicate poverty, higher education in Indonesia has also taken an important role through the transformation of higher education emphasised for achieving SDGs through the optimisation of the Tridharma, namely teaching, research, community service, and sustainable innovation. Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Wamendikti-Saintek) Fauzan states that Indonesian higher education is entering a new phase that requires faster, integrative, and adaptive transformation. Changes in the industrial landscape, technological developments, and new competency needs underlie universities strengthening the quality of learning, governance, and curriculum relevance (27/11/2025). The transformation of higher education emphasises the functionalisation of campuses to reach various sectors of community life by dialoguing with internal campus potentials, from human resources to curriculum. In that context, breakthroughs are important through Tridharma and downstreaming to boost national economic growth. Those strategic steps have the potential to create jobs, besides driving technology transfer and strengthening the economic structure towards an advanced country. Why is the transformation of higher education in Indonesia urgently needed? It is based on many problems that require quick and emergency handling. As a concerning fact, DKI Jakarta as a symbol of a big city in Indonesia and a national barometer still experiences high social disparities. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reports that as of March 2025, the poverty rate in Jakarta is 4.28% or equivalent to 464,870 people. Meanwhile, the open unemployment rate (TPT) as of August 2025 reaches 6.05%, higher than the national average of 4.85%. In responding to such facts, higher education ‘must be present’ to take part through impactful Dikti-Saintek policies with the spirit of rapid, integrative, and adaptive transformation. It is very wise and appropriate for the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to invite all universities in Indonesia to strengthen their commitment to impactful transformation, strengthen sustainable strategic partnerships with the business world and local governments, and integrate relevant campus academic programmes with student needs, industry demands, and social dynamics of society. DYNAMICS OF CAMPUS REPUTATION In line with global demands, Indonesian campuses have recently focused on world and national rankings. Popular world and national higher education rankings include Times Higher Education (THE), QS World University Rankings, ARWU (Shanghai Ranking), and Webometrics. Each ranking is based on campus strengths in certain aspects, which generally relate to academic reputation, research, publications, citations, journals, use of information technology, student-lecturer ratio, networks with the business and industrial world, and excellences possessed. To enter the ranking lists, campuses need preparedness in various matters, from human resources to web visibility. Campuses that enter the ranking lists are stigmatised as reputable, prestigious campuses, or similar terms. Consequently, Tridharma activities are measured according to the ranking instruments followed, besides the main performance indicators (IKU) that have become a contract with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemendikti-Saintek). What are campuses actually seeking by orienting towards world and national rankings? Do they want recognition as reputable campuses? Does reputable campus status automatically mean their contributions have direct impacts on society and national development? It seems not always directly proportional. I assume that the campus orientation to enter rankings, especially world rankings, is not the main goal, but rather a result of a long process of institutional arrangement, solid academic activities, quality research, provision of quality human resources, and various other established excellences.