In the wave of globalization, the value of the humanities and social sciences is being redefined. In 2023, the release of the Grading Catalogue of Overseas Universities in Disciplines (Humanities and Social Sciences) is like a thunderbolt that breaks the silence of the traditional education evaluation system. This catalog is not only a simple ranking of disciplines, but also a systematic reconstruction of the educational value of humanities and social sciences. It marks a key step for China in the field of education evaluation and provides a new coordinate system for the development of global humanities and social sciences education.

The Grading Catalogue of Overseas Universities in Disciplines (Humanities and Social Sciences) is China's first transnational higher education assessment framework, jointly developed by the National Society for Research on University Information and Materials and the Evaluation Research Center of Renmin University of China.

The catalog identifies 13 internationally recognized humanities and social sciences subject areas, namely: 1. philosophy; 2. language and literature; 3. history; 4. art; 5. business administration; 6. economics; 7. law; 8. sociology; 9. political science; 10. public administration; 11. journalism and communication; 12. library and information management; and 13. education.

The research team evaluated the strength of more than 10,000 academic institutions around the world in the 13 core disciplines of humanities and social sciences in terms of “academic innovation and talent cultivation”, according to the five grades of A+, A, A-, B, and C. The top 2% of scores are rated as A+, the top 5% as A, the top 10% as A-, the top 40% as B, and the top 70% as C, resulting in the Grading Catalogue of Overseas Universities in Disciplines (Humanities and Social Sciences).

On this basis, the academic institutions within the scope of evaluation were weighted and summarized to be selected as A+, A, A- in 13 disciplines, resulting in the “Comprehensive Competitiveness Grading Catalogue of Overseas Universities in Disciplines (Humanities and Social Sciences)”, in which the top 2% of the combined scores are rated as A, the top 5% as B, and the rest are C.

For more classification information, please visit the Evaluation Research Center of Renmin University of China:

http://erc.ruc.edu.cn/yjcg/index.htm

For students, grading catalogs provide a clearer academic map. Students can choose institutions and majors with real academic strengths based on the catalog and are no longer confused by superficial rankings. This return of the right to choose allows students to make more rational choices based on academic interests and career plans.

Employers will get more accurate references for talent evaluation from the grading catalog. The grading information provided by the catalog will help companies identify the real ability level of graduates from different institutions and establish a more scientific talent selection mechanism. This shift will promote the talent market to change from “look at the brand” to “look at the ability”.

For the education industry, the grading catalog will trigger deep-seated changes. Colleges and universities will pay more attention to the inner construction of disciplines instead of pursuing quantitative indicators. This shift will promote the optimal allocation of educational resources and the connotative development of humanities and social sciences education.