This conceptual paper traces the development of the culture and capture of celebrity in the field of educational leadership. Drawing on Rojek's ("Celebrity." London: Reaktion Books, 2001) typology of celebrity, we examine the emergence of celebrity of leadership that is activated via the current policy environment that compels schools…

The rise of global university rankings has garnered much attention in recent years. Various ranking systems exist, but all are conceptually similar in that universities are evaluated and ranked on the basis of comparable indicators, with a focus on research performance. Although these rankings are widely criticised as over-simplistic and…

This paper examines why the development of a world class university system represents a rational, even inevitable, policy approach for Australia in response to world university rankings. It assembles evidence questioning the value of policies which direct undue emphasis on the concentration of resources and the development of elite universities,…