US accreditation in Mexico: quality in higher education as symbol, performance and translation

Abstract

Quality practices in higher education involve more than mere compliance with standards and technical mandates; given the complexity of the decisions involved in quality in higher education, this concept, quality, can be analyzed as symbol and performance. This paper utilizes translation as heuristic to analyze the implementation of US institutional accreditation in Mexico. Such analysis unearths the power relations that underpin the emergent internationalization of quality practices in higher education.

Keywords:

• accreditation
• quality
• quality assurance
• higher education
• Mexico