In the Press: Gordon Mathews Says Biased Ranking Exercise Favours Research in English

Prof. Gordon Mathews wrote an opinion piece (Academics denied their place in debate on Hong Kong) for South China Morning Post, pointing out the significant problems of the Research Assessment Exercise in Hong Kong. The exercise,  imported from Margaret Thatcher's Britain, will rank different academic departments as to their research productivity and distribute funding accordingly.

The seemingly reasonable assessment favours research written in English and for Anglo-American publishers. As a result, although unintended, it renders humanists and social scientists no more than mute technocrats and bureaucrats instead of public intellectuals and makes Hong Kong universities increasingly resemble those of Singapore and mainland China.

Prof. Mathews said: "If I were a Chinese official in Beijing, I would be very happy that the exercise keeps Hong Kong academics publishing books and articles in distant places that few people read, rather than engaging in public debate through their research and publications on Hong Kong."

To read the full article , please click here.