Not just another evaluation: a comparative study of four educational quality projects at Swedish universities

Abstract

In this study, four recent self-initiated educational quality projects at Swedish universities are compared and analyzed. The article focuses on how the universities have handled the tension between external demands and internal norms. The aim is to contribute to an improved understanding of quality management in contemporary universities. On the one hand, the projects are found to be built on similar rationales associated with accountability, reputation building and strategic management. This is interpreted as a response to the shared external policy context. They are also found to mirror similar ambitions regarding raising the status of education. On the other hand, the projects are found to differ considerably in their actual design, methodology, implementation, stakeholders and outcomes. This is interpreted as an active adaptation to the unique internal academic norms and cultures that exist in each university.

Keywords:

• quality
• management
• strategic planning
• higher education policy/development
• organization structures

Acknowledgements

An early version of this article was presented as a paper to the EAIR 35th Annual Forum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 28–31 August 2013. The article is one of the results of a joint initiative, aimed at: (a) contributing to the wider policy debate on quality management in higher education; and (b) encouraging organizational learning and informing future strategies at the four universities. The authors wish to thank the university management teams at the four universities for their support, financial and otherwise, to the project. The initiative has been coordinated by Sara Karlsson, with main responsibility for data collection, analysis and authorship, together with a team consisting of Karin Fogelberg (University of Gothenburg), Mette Sandoff (University of Gothenburg), Stefan Lindgren (Lund University), Åsa Kettis (Uppsala University) and Lars Geschwind (KTH). The group also had valuable input from additional colleagues at the four universities, particularly Eva Lindgren (Lund University) and Malin Östling (University of Gothenburg). Interviews were conducted by Sara Karlsson, Lars Geschwind, Åsa Kettis, Karin Fogelberg and Malin Östling. The majority of interviews were conducted by the main author. However, interviews at KTH were conducted by co-authors so as to avoid ‘home interviews’.