Cultures of Quality: An International Perspective - Phase 2
Call for expressions of interest
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) wishes to commission Phase 2
of this research project. The research project is to be undertaken in collaboration with the
British Council and £15,000 of funding is attached.
Phase 1 research provided profiles of quality assurance in nine countries, together with an
overview report, and was published by QAA in November 2015:
www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/publication/?PubID=3015
We now wish to commission further research to explore some issues raised by Phase 1.
Project outline
The aim of this research is to examine the cultures of quality assurance systems in higher
education in different countries, to provide an international perspective. We wish to evaluate
the extent to which different quality assurance systems around the world create a culture of
valuing and encouraging high quality research and teaching in their higher education
systems. The research should aim to differentiate between the drivers influencing national
systems of higher education in the nine countries; and explore the variety of ways in which
cultures of quality can be stimulated and assured. It will investigate how quality assurance
structures and frameworks are used to improve the quality of higher education provision, and
what types of structures exist to facilitate the continuing development and improvement of
quality assurance systems.
Progress to date
Phase 1 of the research has provided valuable profiles of higher education and its quality
assurance in nine countries (UK, USA, Australia, India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and
Colombia), identifying the major expansion which has occurred in the last 20 years in all the
countries, creating mixed economies of public/private provision.
Requirements for Phase 2
The main question, emerging for further investigation, has two parts:
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Is a risk-based system of quality assurance the most appropriate for rapidly
developing nations, with high levels of private provision in higher education?
What examples of embedded quality assurance cultures exist that might be applied
effectively and quickly to mixed economies of higher education?
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In considering this question, the researchers should reflect upon the current, and proposed,
system of quality assurance in the UK and how there could be mutual learning between the
UK and the nine countries of the project, so that the international perspective is developed.
For example, which qualification frameworks, quality indicators and accreditation systems
from the nine country contexts, could be applied to developing systems?
One outcome from the research could be guidance on the location of good practice
examples in solving particular problems in country agendas.
Aspects of particular interest to be explored in the Phase 2 research, by the identification of
relevant issues and examples, are:
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the extent to which quality assurance systems cope with diversity and
rapid expansion
definitions of 'higher' or 'tertiary' education and the ways in which these may be
significant to quality assurance
the role of quality assurance in efforts to align higher education outputs with
skills needs
what evidence is there that quality assurance has improved teaching and learning?
Context of the research
Many countries around the world have developed a quality assurance methodology for their
higher education systems. Globalisation has seen the growth of higher education provision
in developing countries and the export of higher education from the developed economies in
the form of transnational education, including offshore campuses and collaborative
arrangements with local providers. These developments reflect a re-conceptualisation of the
role of the nation state as a provider of services, to that of a facilitator of provision through a
combination of regulation, performance monitoring and the contracting of services.
This changed role is accompanied by new conditions of governing; namely the re-drawing of
public/private boundaries, the re-allocation of funds and the reconstitution of organisational
relationships. This is evinced in the growth of private higher education in developing
countries as the demand outstrips the ability of the state to provide. This rapid growth raises
a number of questions around the following aspects of quality assurance:
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accountability of public funding to ensure maximum return on public resources,
and the use of quality systems to manage and allocate funding and protect the
student interest
graduate outputs and suitability of programmes in mass systems of
higher education
the transparency of higher education systems as they develop and the activities of
providers become increasingly public, with greater possibilities of reputational risk at
the individual and systemic level
the transportability of qualifications and the internationalisation of education as
national systems start to operate in transnational higher education.
Reasons for the development of a quality assurance system and its resultant approaches
vary from country to country, with much depending upon the culture and history of the
country concerned and its stage of economic development, as illustrated by the Phase 1
report and profiles.
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How to submit your expression of interest
Expressions of interest are invited from individuals or organisations by 12 noon on
25 January 2016.
Please complete the Expression of Interest Form on the QAA website (available at:
www.qaa.ac.uk/improving-higher-education/research), including an outline methodology and
costs, together with evidence of experience and successful track record in this area of
research.
The final report should be available for publication by QAA by 31 August 2016, with interim
findings available for presentation at the Going Global Conference on 3 May 2016.
For enquiries, please contact:
Dr Elizabeth Halford, Head of Research and Intelligence, QAA
[email protected]
Completed forms should be emailed to:
Jean McLaren, Data Manager, QAA
[email protected]
Terms and conditions of research grants from QAA will apply to any grants awarded.
© The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 2015
Registered charity numbers 1062746 and SC037786
www.qaa.ac.uk
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