Quality enhancement and higher education

Summary form only as given. This paper addresses the practice of quality enhancement in higher education as seen from the perspective of institutions and academic units and from the perspective of the work of the Quality Enhancement Group of the Higher Education Quality Council. The author contrasts present national emphases on accountability for the quality of education which focus primarily on the needs and expectations of external stakeholders with the requirements for enhancement of quality as seen by internal groups. While both may be characterised as being concerned with improvements in quality, the approaches adopted are very different and may not achieve the desired results. The argument presented suggests that accountability and improvement may need to be brought into closer alignment if positive and lasting change in higher education is to be achieved. In support of this argument, the author points to a number of approaches to the management of quality improvement which exist outside higher education, some of which show potential for development inside the sector. The work of the Engineering Professors´ Council provides one example, the European Quality Award is another. The paper ends with a number of suggestions as to ways in which quality enhancement can be achieved at different levels of the higher education system