In the international discussion on competition in the field of higher education, attention is drawn - for example in neo-institutionalism - to the fact that universities have transformed into organizational actors that are characterized by positioning efforts and the development of organizational identities. This article explains how universities in this specific constellation assure themselves of their own position, seek to improve it and how German state ministries become competitive actors in this context. To this end, the authors first work through the international significance of rankings in order to then show how international competitiveness can be established in Germany without universities orienting themselves primarily on their position in international rankings, which mechanisms become significant instead and what role ministries play in this.

Nicolai Götze, Georg Krücken & Tim Seidenschnur (2023): "Multipler Wettbewerb – multiple Wettbewerbsakteure? Der staatliche Wettbewerb im Hochschulbereich und die Transformation von Bundesländern in Wettbewerbsakteure". In: Webler, Wolff-Dietrich (Hg.): Überzogener und überhitzter Wettbewerb in der Wissenschaft Wissenschaftsförderung und ihre Irrwege, Bielefeld: UVW 2023, pp. 41-62.

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