Title: Quality assurance in higher education: for whom and of what?

Authors: Hitendra Pillay, Megan Kimber

Addresses: Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, 4059, Australia. ' Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, 4059, Australia

Abstract: Over the past two decades the quality assurance of higher education institutions has captured a growing interest as evidenced by the increasing number of national and transnational bodies engaged in this area. Yet as the first decade of the 21st century draws to a close, higher education systems and thus the regimes designed to ensure their quality are faced with significant complexity. Issues of accountability, authority and responsibility are paramount when responding to industry bodies, to globalisation and the transnational provision of higher education and to the use of market mechanisms. In this paper we raise some of the challenges for quality assurance for higher education presented by this growing complexity through the question, quality assurance in higher education, for whom and of what, highlighting our concern for a need to expand the centrality of accountability to include authority and responsibility as part of the quality assurance regimes for higher education.

Keywords: quality assurance; QA; transnational higher education; authority; accountability; responsibility; responsiveness; external regulators; universities; globalisation; free market; regulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIE.2009.027349

International Journal of Management in Education, 2009 Vol.3 No.3/4, pp.270 - 281

Published online: 20 Jul 2009 *

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