Business Schools, Rankings, and the Media

A discussion on the power and limits of rankings, and how business schools can redefine excellence around mission, impact, and relevance.

Host Eileen McAuliffe, AACSB's executive vice president, chief thought leadership officer, and managing director of EMEA, sits down with Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer at Times Higher Education, while at the World Academic Summit in Saudi Arabia. The two discuss Times Higher Education’s rankings and their influence, and how to best convey an institution’s purpose and impact to the public. They examine the following three big questions:

1. The World University Rankings were first launched over 20 years ago. Can you talk a bit about the origins of those rankings and how they grew to be what they are today?
2. Rankings can be a contentious issue among higher ed institutions—particularly those that aren’t often represented in the top numbers. How well do you think rankings reflect the excellence of a university?
3. Since much of the media narrative around higher education is about cost and return on investment, how can business schools leverage their expertise in measuring value to reshape this conversation in the public sphere?

To view a full transcript of the episode, visit https://www.aacsb.edu/insights/podcasts/2026/aacsb-pulse-business-schools-rankings-and-the-media.