Institutional accreditation in Saudi Arabian higher education: perceptions and involvement

ABSTRACT

A sample of 189 participants from 28 institutions of higher education with baccalaureate programmes in nursing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated in a study using an on-line survey about perceptions towards institutional accreditation. Perceptions about the purpose, process, and motivation to be involved in an institutional accreditation were measured. Teachers in nursing programmes demonstrated a higher perception of the process and purpose of institutional accreditation than programme deans and senior managers; a surprising finding in light of the importance of accreditation to the reputation of institutions housing programmes of nursing. High perceptions of process and purpose were significant predictors to participants being motivated to be involved in the accreditation process. There was a significant association between having more years in teaching and those with experience in accreditation, with motivation to be involved in the accreditation process. Perception of purpose was significantly higher in government compared to private institutions.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic accreditation
• nursing schools
• attitudes
• deans
• department leaders
• teacher perceptions of accreditation

Acknowledgments

Appreciation goes to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for supporting the first author’s education through the Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences, Medical Service at the Ministry of Defence and Aviation. Further thanks to advisor Dr. Mohammad Alzahrani and the Saudi Cultural Mission to the United States for their conscientious guidance.

Disclosure statement

The authors certify that no party having a direct interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on us or on any organisation with which we are associated.

Notes

* Editor’s note: the original data from the Likert-scale responses is ordinal data and the researchers have applied statistics that require interval or ratio scale data. They have done this on the presumption that the ordinal scale data can be treated as interval when aggregated.