This is what the stereotype of the HSG student looks like (St. Gallen University called himself Hochschule in the title): His name is Maximilian and he is 21 years old. He goes to college in a Porsche or Tesla, wears branded clothes, and comes from a wealthy family.
Maximilian, St. Gallen is a pop culture fictional character who has been the subject of countless memes and other online jokes among students. In doing so, they make fun of their own image in the rest of the country: the staff factory where the children of distinguished, even distant, wealthy families from home and abroad are raised and trained as senior managers.
However, it is precisely this luxury elite university that is currently making a huge leap in international university rankings: ETH Zurich is considered the best university in continental Europe and ranks 11th worldwide, while St. Gallen University can’t even do that. first 300.
comparing apples and oranges
st. A punch in the stomach of the so-called staff factory in Gallen Rosenberg – right? When asked about the ranking list, those in charge wave. The professor in charge, Winfried Ruigrok, says the ranking will compare apples to oranges. “Full universities and technical universities are brought together and compared.”
At full universities, such as the University of Zurich, the choice of subjects is greater: from astrophysics to philosophy. st. Gallen specializes in economics. “Full universities will also receive points where the HSG does not score at all, for example in physics or chemistry,” explains Ruigrok. On the other hand, if you look at business universities only, HSG is among the top rated 8 percent worldwide.
The little University of Lucerne argues similarly. At 22, it is the youngest university in Switzerland and is not even included in the ranking. Natural sciences will be predominant in the ranking. If you don’t offer them, you have no chance of ranking high.
Not dependent on wealthy students
The university in the UN city, which has a high reputation for international relations, reacted somewhat to the new ranking. “In two years, we’ve lost more than 50 places in this ranking without the data we’ve provided changing significantly,” the responsible wrote.
In fact, two years ago the University of Geneva was ranked 149th, while last year it fell to 197th. And this year it is no longer in the top 200, but in the 201 – 250 range. The universities at the bottom are no longer individually, but divided into groups.
Those in charge of Geneva make it clear that they don’t think much about the method of ranking or the advertising effect. Unlike universities in Anglo-Saxon countries, they are not dependent on international students paying higher tuition fees. “The University of Geneva has no policy aimed at being ‘well-placed’,” write those responsible. Instead, they invest in improving teaching and research.
By the way: A few years ago, the HSG student magazine “Prisma” debunked the stereotype of the student driving a Porsche named Maximilian. He concluded that more than 40 percent of HSG students work part-time. And those still funded by their parents receive an average of CHF 1,300 per month. For branded clothes, this is not enough.