Universities have traditionally responded to two main functions: teaching and research. Universities provide
training for high-level jobs and increase the body of theoretical knowledge as well as their possible applications
through research. Competitiveness in the academic world has led to the upcoming of many different University
tables that order Universities’ according to their academic performance using various combinations of different
factors. However, such tables do not put emphasis on teaching quality and are mostly based in objective
(though arguable) indicators of Universities’ research performance. In the opinion of the author current league
tables can be misleading and confusing for students who use tables to choose a University for their Studies and
even for Universities themselves who might be compelled to adopt policies to contempt leagues tables instead
of focusing on long term policies aimed to improve both their research and their teaching quality. This
document presents the process of creation of an alternative composite indicator which will serve to assess
academic performance at Higher Education Institutions in Engineering-related fields. A composite indicator is
formed when individual indicators are compiled into a single index, on the basis of an underlying model of the
multi-dimensional concept that is being measured. Such multi-dimensional concept to be measured is in this
case academic performance understood as the ability of a university to contenting the expectations, enhancing
the capacities and providing the tools students consider to be relevant in their process of being transformed
from high school students to competent and ready professionals to enter in the labor force as engineers. As a
result of such considerations this composite indicator will be focused rather on University as a training and
learning institution and not so much as an engine of knowledge creation.
The composite indicator created will be put into practice to assess academic performance at four Engineering
Schools (Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona (Spain), Facoltà d’Ingegneria di
l’Università di Roma Tor Vergata (Italy), Facoltà d’Ingegneria di Roma La Sapienza (Italy) and Delft Technical
University (Netherlands) to guarantee its applicability in practice.
