Comparative Analysis of Higher Education Quality Assurance Systems:Dimensions of Similarity and Diversity in the Global Experiences

Authors

1 Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education Department of Planning

2 Department of Psychology and Education Tehran University

3 Department of Social Sciences Tehran University

Abstract

Comparative analysis of quality assurance systems in higher education through out the world reveals that there are many convergence and consensus on the one hand and considerable diversity on the other hand. “Relation with the government”, “organizational structure”, “ the roles and authorities”, “ the mission”, “criteria for judgment”, “evidences”, “the formal and final decisions based on the evaluation” and “the manner of reporting” are among the points divergence among different systems. This indicates that those in charge of introducing such systems were able to overcome many structural, cultural and contextual obstacles by network building. By creative borrowing from global experiences, these systems have been able to initiate the relevant and indigenous evaluation of higher education systems.

Keywords