Session Abstract: Benchmarking is a well-established among higher education institutions used for strategic planning, goal setting, and institutional assessment. The effectiveness of benchmarking largely depends on how accurately institutional peer groups are constructed. While contextual factors such as the presence of medical schools and geographic location are essential in identifying potential peers, rigorous quantitative methods play a critical role in developing valid and meaningful peer groups. In this presentation, we demonstrate the use of two quantitative techniques—Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis—to construct “true” and “aspirational” peer groups for a high-research private university to compare research funding. We also compare peer groups identified through contextual knowledge with those derived from quantitative methods. One of the key challenges we address is the misalignment that can occur between statistically derived peers and those traditionally selected.
Keywords: Peer Comparison, Research Funding, Benchmarking
