Quality Assurance in an International Higher Education Area: A Case Study Approach and Comparative Analysis

285 Pages·2012·1.99 MB·English

by  Andrea Bernhard (auth.)

Andrea Bernhard
Quality Assurance in an International Higher Education Area
VS RESEARCH
Andrea Bernhard
Q uality Assurance
in an International
Higher Education Area
A Case Study Approach
and Comparative Analysis
With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Hans Pechar
VS RESEARCH
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografi e;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
Dissertation University of Klagenfurt, 2011
Gedruckt mit Unterstützung der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, des Amtes der Steiermärkischen
Landesregierung, Abteilung 3 – Wissenschaft und Forschung sowie des Alfred Schachner
Gedächtnisfonds in Graz.

1st Edition 2012

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ISBN 978-3-531-18566-8
Foreword

Quality assurance is one of the controversial topics in higher education policy.
The doctoral thesis by Andrea Bernhard deals with recent developments on this
topic. These developments are strongly shaped by the internationalization of
higher education which she calls the “International Higher Education Area”. This
is a theoretical construct, because in its present legally codified form, each sys-
tem of higher education is still a national entity. Bernhard’s thesis addresses the
tensions that result from the fact that national higher education regimes are in-
creasingly weakened by global trends.
Internationalization is only one of the many factors that have radically
changed higher education in OECD countries over the last few decades. Expan-
sion of higher education has reached unprecedented levels since the mid-20th
century. All other trends and developments that are addressed in Bernhard’s
thesis – including internationalization, diversification, and privatization – can to
some degree be regarded as a by-product of this massification. Bernhard explores
how quality assurance in teaching and research, a primary concern of universities
at all times, has changed under the condition of mass higher education systems
and how a formalized framework of quality assurance has emerged. This book
contributes significantly to a better understanding of these new arrangements.

Prof. Dr. Hans Pechar

University of Klagenfurt
Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies (IFF): Vienna Location
Institute of Science Communication and Higher Education Research
Preface

Many different stakeholders are involved in higher education issues, transfor-
mation processes are continuously going on, various stakeholders imply different
opinions, perspectives and interests – hence, quality assurance of higher educa-
tion is ever-present. This research study – which is based on a doctoral thesis –
tried to create a new understanding of quality assurance in higher education,
identified new and emerging issues within this field of research and worked out
explanations and recommendations for the future. I had the possibility to write
this research study based on my job setting in terms of a quality assurance agen-
cy (Austrian Accreditation Council) as well as a higher education institution
(University of Graz). From the different perspectives of a student, a staff member
of a quality assurance agency and a researcher at a higher education institution I
considered the field of quality assurance in higher education. This gave me the
opportunity to and benefit of always being in touch and tightly involved with the
relevant stakeholders of my field of research. Furthermore, it was also inspiring
to comprehensively discover the different complexities and intricacies of higher
education systems but also entails that it is not always easy to restrain oneself
and to formulate objective and general assumptions without involving one’s
personal attitude and perspectives.
Writing this book gave me the possibility to discover the rise of quality as-
surance within an international higher education area. Moreover I had the chance
to study six country cases, to discover their history, culture and politics and to
get in touch with people from different national backgrounds as well as with
leading national and international organisations and networks dealing with quali-
ty assurance. Having experienced this diversity and variety for the last four years
was among what I enjoyed most but also challenged me to a high extent. There is
a lot of research on higher education by different individual researchers and
research teams, international organisations and networks eager to understand the
complexity of this field of research, which challenged me during my research. To
come to an end was tightly linked to the enthusiasm for this research topic, the
extensive literature and the ongoing discussions in the media about it. I very
much appreciated to have the chance to write about such a complex, highly con-
troversially and up-to-date issue.
8 Preface
Many thanks to everybody who supported me in writing my doctoral thesis.
First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Hans Pechar (University
of Klagenfurt) and Prof. Werner Lenz (University of Graz), who encouraged me
to write this thesis and guided me along the path. I would like to thank them for
granting me the needed freedom to pursue my research questions in an academic
but also self-guided way to grow into a community of researchers and develop an
understanding of these diverse higher education systems, which have been highly
rewarding opportunities.
Furthermore, thanks to all experts that assisted me with essential feedback
and their expert opinion on my research questions. I owe my thanks also to these
numerous reviewers and interviewees from Austria, Germany, Finland, the Unit-
ed Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada as well as to international
organisations and researchers affiliated with quality assurance in higher educa-
tion (all of them are listed in the annex). Especially the feedback to my initial
country reports helped me to get the facts in the six case-studies right. Due to
their invaluable cooperation and assistance this comparative analysis was made
possible.
Also thanks to various colleagues at the Universities of Graz, Klagenfurt
and Vienna with whom I had a lot of discussions and got different angles and
perspectives on my research topic during several doctoral seminars. I would like
to especially thank the participants of the Career Program for Women Scholars
at the University of Graz which supported me to develop a network, to exchange
knowledge and expertise as well as to give and receive assistance in terms of
scientific but also personal matters. Thanks to Hemma Jarnig for proofreading of
this rather long thesis.
A special word of thanks I owe to my parents, my sister and Stefan for al-
ways supporting the choices I have made in life and helping me to reach my
goals. Thank you to my family and my friends who kept constantly asking me
about my progress and thus animated me. ‘When are you finished with your
thesis?’, kept me on track to do so. Many thanks!

Andrea Bernhard
Graz 2011
Contents

Foreword ............................................................................................................... 5
Preface .................................................................................................................. 7
Contents ................................................................................................................ 9
Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 11
Introduction ...................................................................................................... 13

Theoretical Approach ....................................................................................... 17
1 Transformative Higher Education ............................................................... 19
1.1 The Rise of Higher Education Systems ................................................ 23
1.2 The Concept of Massification............................................................... 25
1.3 The Concept of Diversification ............................................................ 29
1.4 Privatisation of Higher Education ........................................................ 31
1.5 Internationalisation of Higher Education .............................................. 36
2 Quality Assurance in Higher Education...................................................... 39
2.1 The Rise of Quality Assurance ............................................................. 40
2.2 Quality / Quality Assurance Definitions............................................... 44
2.3 Quality Assurance Systems and their Critics ........................................ 60
2.4 Quality Assurance in an International Perspective ............................... 64

Research Design ................................................................................................ 69
3 Methodology and Operationalisation .......................................................... 71
3.1 Methodological Approach .................................................................... 73
3.2 Research Instruments............................................................................ 76

Country Reports ............................................................................................... 83
4 Austria ........................................................................................................ 85
4.1 Facts and Figures .................................................................................. 85
4.2 Governance and Funding ...................................................................... 86
4.3 Quality Assurance ................................................................................ 89
5 Germany ..................................................................................................... 95
5.1 Facts and Figures .................................................................................. 95
5.2 Governance and Funding ...................................................................... 96
5.3 Quality Assurance ................................................................................ 98
10 Contents
6 Finland ...................................................................................................... 105
6.1 Facts and Figures ................................................................................ 105
6.2 Governance and Funding .................................................................... 106
6.3 Quality Assurance .............................................................................. 109
7 United Kingdom (UK) .............................................................................. 115
7.1 Facts and Figures ................................................................................ 115
7.2 Governance and Funding .................................................................... 116
7.3 Quality Assurance .............................................................................. 119
8 United States of America (U.S.) ............................................................... 127
8.1 Facts and Figures ................................................................................ 127
8.2 Governance and Funding .................................................................... 129
8.3 Quality Assurance .............................................................................. 131
9 Canada ...................................................................................................... 139
9.1 Facts and Figures ................................................................................ 139
9.2 Governance and Funding .................................................................... 142
9.3 Quality Assurance .............................................................................. 144

Expert Interviews ............................................................................................ 155
10 Basic Considerations................................................................................. 157
11 Operationalisation and Data ...................................................................... 163
12 Analysis and Evaluation ........................................................................... 171
12.1 Interviews with International Experts ................................................. 173
12.2 Interviews with National Experts ....................................................... 188
12.2.1 Austria ....................................................................................... 188
12.2.2 Germany.................................................................................... 193
12.2.3 Finland ...................................................................................... 199
12.2.4 United Kingdom ....................................................................... 203
12.2.5 United States of America .......................................................... 211
12.2.6 Canada ...................................................................................... 216

Comparison and Future Challenges .............................................................. 225
13 Comparative Analysis ............................................................................... 227
13.1 International Perspectives ................................................................... 229
13.2 National Key Actors and Elements .................................................... 234
13.3 National Perspectives ......................................................................... 238
13.4 Theoretical Concepts and Assumptions .............................................. 246
14 Theory, Methodology and Reality ............................................................ 257

References ........................................................................................................ 261
Annex ............................................................................................................... 287