The academic ranking of world universities by subject matter and by region in 2011 does not change much relative to 2010, and tells a story similar to the ranking by field. The hierarchy remains stable : first come North American universities that place 291 institutions in the top 100 in the 5 subjects, or in percent terms 58%. Second comes Europe with 128 or 26%. Asia and Pacific are third with 65 or 13%, and the rest of the world amounts to 3%.
Economics / business is the subject where North American universities excel — they place 79 in the top 100. This may shock whomever naively might expect that such levels of proficiency are irreconcilable with the economics and business practices that nurtured the string of financial and economic crises that knocked down the world since the end of 2007. In fact, there is no reason for astonishment. The theoretical corpus of economics and business knowledge generated and spread by North American universities should instead allow us to predict such disastrous consequences.
European universities have the best presence in physics (35), followed by mathematics (31) and chemistry (29). The universities of Asia and Pacific are more often listed in computer sciences and chemistry (21) and physics (11).
Academic ranking of world universities by subject matter and by region in 2011 | ||||
Subject matter | North America | Europe | Asia & Pacific | Rest of the World |
| Mathematics | 56 | 31 | 9 | 4 |
| Physics | 51 | 35 | 11 | 3 |
| Chemistry | 48 | 29 | 21 | 2 |
| Computer sciences | 57 | 17 | 21 | 5 |
| Economics / Business | 79 | 16 | 3 | 2 |
| Total (number) | 291 | 128 | 65 | 16 |
| Total (percent) | 58% | 26% | 13% | 3% |
Sources: Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai.
