The usefulness of quality assurance for university management and academic staff. A case study of Finland and Iceland.

Autor/inn/en	Haapakorpi, Arja; Geirsdottir, Gudrun; Johannsdottir, Hyda
Titel	The usefulness of quality assurance for university management and academic staff. A case study of Finland and Iceland.
Quelle	In: European Journal of Higher Education, 3 (2013) 2, S. 206-219Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2156-8235; 2156-8243
DOI	10.1080/21568235.2013.772353
Schlagwörter	Evaluation; Hochschule; Hochschulsystem; Qualitätssicherung; Verwaltung; Ausland; Finnland; Island
Abstract	With quality assurance related to the Bologna goals, universities are required to fulfil internationally accepted standardized criteria of quality. This tends to reinforce control in assessment. However, control-oriented evaluations seem to lack meaning for academic staff. The article explored the possibilities and space for improvement-oriented evaluation within quality assurance processes. The implementation, outcomes and utilization of audits/accreditation processes in three universities in Finland and Iceland are explored. The data consists of documents and interviews. The findings indicate that despite increasing control of universities there is still an opportunity for improvement within the quality assurance processes. Improvement is related to the preparatory phase of the evaluation process, where staff is actively engaged in the process, leading to utilization of outcomes. The external phase with control dominance lacks meaning for staff and has limited utilization. A shortage of credibility regarding assessment is a threat to quality assurance legitimation and utilization. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).
Erfasst von	Hochschulrektorenkonferenz, Bonn
Update	2013/4