Impact evaluation of quality management in higher education: a contribution to sustainable quality development in knowledge societies

ABSTRACT

Since (higher) education is more important than ever in knowledge societies, high priority should be ascribed to quality management in higher education institutions and its effectiveness. However, there is still a lack of systematic evaluation of the latter, particularly analyses which are not restricted to ex-post gathered data and expert assessments. The articles in this special issue contribute to overcome these shortcomings in several ways: One article is reflecting on success factors and un-/intended effects of quality management, another one is analyzing more discoursive ways of evidence-informed guidance of quality management policies which are complementary to rigorous impact studies. Five articles investigate quality management effectiveness by ex-post and simultaneous impact evaluation in European case studies, including assessments of students, teachers, quality managers and leadership. Finally, a SWOT analysis of impact evaluation of quality management in higher education institutions is carried out and suggested as a tool for bridging the notorious gap between methodology and implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education
• human right for education
• knowledge society
• methodology of impact evaluation of quality management

Acknowledgement

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Theodor Leiber is Scientific Advisor and higher education researcher with Evaluation Agency Baden-Wuerttemberg, Mannheim (Germany) and Associate Professor of Philosophy at University of Augsburg (Germany). He earned doctoral degrees in Theoretical Physics and Philosophy. His research focuses on evaluation, impact studies, performance measurement and governance, quality management and organizational development in higher education as well as philosophy of science and ethics.

ORCID

Theodor Leiber http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7218-2603

Notes

1 In this article ‘quality management’ is used synonymously to ‘quality assurance’. This is, however, not consensus throughout this special issue. In the present article, quality assurance (QA) is understood as comprising the totality of structures, processes and instruments supporting assurance and further development of performance quality of complex social institutions, particularly HEIs, on the basis of critically reflected Deming (plan-do-check-act) cycles (Moen and Norman 2011). Hereby, it is important to complement the ‘managerial rationality’ touch of the Deming cycle with an adequate understanding of ‘bounded’, ‘procedural rationality’, which realizes an ‘empirically founded theory of choice’ (Simon 1991).

Additional information

Funding

The author did part of the work on this article in the context of a project on impact evaluation of quality assurance in higher education institutions, which was co-funded by the European Commission [grant number 539481-LLP-1-2013-1-DE-ERASMUS-EIGF]; Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.