Revisiting the National Ranking Methodology of Higher Education Institution in Pakistan: A Societal and Entrepreneurial Perspective

The notion of third mission (3M) activities is becoming increasingly important to exploit universities’ knowledge and capabilities in society. Besides, there is an emerging need of reflection of these activities in ranking methodologies of universities. In Pakistan, national ranking of universities is conducted by HEI statutory body. The purpose of this study is to assess the methodology of national ranking of HEIs in Pakistan for the reflection of third mission activities i.e., entrepreneurial and societal engagement. Content analysis was performed on the national ranking methodology based on Third Mission Model by Molas-Gallart, Salter, Patel, Scott and Duran (2002). The findings of this study revealed that only 1.03% of the third mission activities are reflected in the methodology of the national ranking system of HEI statutory body i.e., Patents (0.52%), ORICs (0.17%), Grant (0.17%) and Exchange (0.17%).This study will provide a critical base to policy makers, to incorporate third mission activities in ranking methodology to address the emerging economic and social challenges faced by the country.