DCU among the world’s leading universities for its impact in addressing inequality and reducing poverty
Dublin City University has been ranked 23rd in the world for its approach to widening participation in higher education and its ongoing commitment to eradicating poverty.
The University was also ranked 38th globally for its work in reducing inequality and 89th globally for gender equality, reflecting its commitment to achieving equality, diversity and inclusion for staff and students.
These results are part of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2021 released today, which capture universities’ impact on society and are based on institutions’ success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
The Rankings examined research, outreach, stewardship and teaching in a total of 1115 institutions worldwide.
While DCU ranked in 9 of the overall 17 SDGs and achieved an overall rankings of 101-200, the university performed particularly strongly in the following categories:
- 23rd Globally for SDG 1 - No Poverty: DCU was recognised for its well-established and comprehensive approach to widening participation in higher education, including the Access to the Workplace initiative, which supports students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to secure summer work-placements, supported by the DCU Educational Trust. It also recognised DCU’s work as Ireland’s first designated University of Sanctuary and its commitment to welcoming people seeking asylum and refugees into the university community. This ranking also acknowledges DCU's long standing commitment to eradicating poverty through external community engagement, e.g. the Educational Disadvantage Centre in the DCU Institute of Education.
- 38th Globally for SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities: This ranking recognised the diversity of the DCU student body, and acknowledged DCU's pioneering work in being recognised as the world's first Autism-Friendly University. The University also scored highly on its research in addressing societal inequality and its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, as reflected in its establishment of the DCU Centre for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion – the first of its kind – which is driving change in the workplace.
- 89th Globally for SDG 5 - Gender Equality: DCU scored strongly in this category because of clear evidence of its commitment to gender equality in its staff and student body. DCU's score recognised the progress made by the institution to date in addressing gender inequality in senior academic positions, its Women in Leadership suite of initiatives, and the impact of its research in the area of gender equality.
In addition to the above, DCU ranked 79th globally for Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG 16), reflecting the University’s strong governance model, and its work with government. DCU also achieved strong recognition for its activity in addressing Responsible Consumption and production (SDG12), and Partnership for the Goals (SDG 17).
Speaking about the rankings, DCU President, Professor Daire Keogh, said: “DCU’s strong performance in these rankings reflects our fidelity to ‘People First’ values. It also highlights our aspiration to be known as a University of Impact that strives to deliver the UN SDGs. Our university’s high ranking in areas such as poverty reduction, educational access and gender equality are an affirmation that we are on the right path.”