UniRegov
"La gobernanza de la regulación en la Educación Superior: un estudio comparado de los instrumentos, las agencias y las audiencias"
2016 - 2019
2016 - 2019
Under what conditions has the governance of higher education changed in recent times? Have public policies contributed significantly to this change?
During the age of globalization, the different systems of governance in the field of higher education that have occurred across the world are involved in a process of profound transformation. On the one hand, there is a general tendency towards the globalization of quality regulation in the field of higher education with a proliferation of quality assurance agencies (QAAs).
Overall, either of a public or private nature. On the other hand, there is also a trend, as evidenced by many stakeholders, to care about the performance of learning activities provided by universities, where both local and international students look for the perfect fit of their learning goals.
The expansion of regulatory governance, with its toolbox of new policy instruments, has become an answer to the demands for a better HE, but also a driver for change in most higher education systems in the world. Here we are interested in understanding these processes, and, in particular, how countries have adapted and integrated such tendencies in their domestic systems of governance.
Against this backdrop, the project Regulatory Governance in Higher Education: a Comparative Analysis of Instruments, Agencies, and Audiences (UniRegov) aims to provide an answer to the aforementioned questions about the governance of higher education and the role of public policy, by pursuing a comparative analysis of regulatory governance in higher education, particularly quality assurance of universities.
The research design includes the elaboration of a database of quality agencies throughout the world, that gathers significant information about the institutional and organizational characteristics of the current universe of QAAs worldwide, as well as the realization of six in-depth case studies (Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and the United Kingdom). These case studies will focus on mapping the main actors involved in quality assurance (QAA, public and private HEIs, government officials, etc.) and analyzing their internal policy dynamics, their use of regulatory instruments, and the global and international context within which they operate in each case. Apart from conducting a literature review for all cases, the data collection will be complemented with an online survey directed to the quality assurance units of HEIs.
During the age of globalization, the different systems of governance in the field of higher education that have occurred across the world are involved in a process of profound transformation. On the one hand, there is a general tendency towards the globalization of quality regulation in the field of higher education with a proliferation of quality assurance agencies (QAAs).
Overall, either of a public or private nature. On the other hand, there is also a trend, as evidenced by many stakeholders, to care about the performance of learning activities provided by universities, where both local and international students look for the perfect fit of their learning goals.
The expansion of regulatory governance, with its toolbox of new policy instruments, has become an answer to the demands for a better HE, but also a driver for change in most higher education systems in the world. Here we are interested in understanding these processes, and, in particular, how countries have adapted and integrated such tendencies in their domestic systems of governance.
Against this backdrop, the project Regulatory Governance in Higher Education: a Comparative Analysis of Instruments, Agencies, and Audiences (UniRegov) aims to provide an answer to the aforementioned questions about the governance of higher education and the role of public policy, by pursuing a comparative analysis of regulatory governance in higher education, particularly quality assurance of universities.
The research design includes the elaboration of a database of quality agencies throughout the world, that gathers significant information about the institutional and organizational characteristics of the current universe of QAAs worldwide, as well as the realization of six in-depth case studies (Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and the United Kingdom). These case studies will focus on mapping the main actors involved in quality assurance (QAA, public and private HEIs, government officials, etc.) and analyzing their internal policy dynamics, their use of regulatory instruments, and the global and international context within which they operate in each case. Apart from conducting a literature review for all cases, the data collection will be complemented with an online survey directed to the quality assurance units of HEIs.
Researchers
External Contributors
- Susana Borràs
- Mireya Dávila
- Martin Lodge
- Antoine Maillet
- Ixchel Pérez-Durán
- José I. Távara Martin
Main outcomes
Main events
July 10, 2019. Working Group "Las políticas de calidad universitaria: un aproximación desde la regulación", coordinated by David Sancho, in the XIV Congress of the AECPA, Salamanca (Spain).
June 27, 2019. Presentation of the paper "Multi-level governance in quality assurance in Spain: the case of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA)", by Ana García Juanatey, in 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’19), Valencia (Spain).
May 29, 2019. Presentation of the paper "Una transformación desde dentro: el papel de las unidades técnicas de calidad de las universidades en perspectiva comparada, by Ana Garcia Juanatey in XVI FORO INTERNACIONAL sobre la EVALUACIÓN DE LA CALIDAD de la INVESTIGACIÓN y de la EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR (FECIES), Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
May 24, 2019. Presentation of the paper "Las políticas de regulación de la calidad en la educación superior y su impacto en la equidad: visiones desde una perspectiva regional", by Jacint Jordana, in LASA Congress 2019, Boston (USA).
May 24, 2018. Seminar in the XXXVI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association “Entre el mercado y el Estado: los desafíos de la regulación de la calidad de la educación superior en el ámbito hispánico”. More info
June 9, 2017. Workshop “Regulatory Governance in Higher Education: a Comparative Analysis of Instruments, Agencies and Audiences (UniRegov)”. More info
June 27, 2019. Presentation of the paper "Multi-level governance in quality assurance in Spain: the case of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA)", by Ana García Juanatey, in 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’19), Valencia (Spain).
May 29, 2019. Presentation of the paper "Una transformación desde dentro: el papel de las unidades técnicas de calidad de las universidades en perspectiva comparada, by Ana Garcia Juanatey in XVI FORO INTERNACIONAL sobre la EVALUACIÓN DE LA CALIDAD de la INVESTIGACIÓN y de la EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR (FECIES), Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
May 24, 2019. Presentation of the paper "Las políticas de regulación de la calidad en la educación superior y su impacto en la equidad: visiones desde una perspectiva regional", by Jacint Jordana, in LASA Congress 2019, Boston (USA).
May 24, 2018. Seminar in the XXXVI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association “Entre el mercado y el Estado: los desafíos de la regulación de la calidad de la educación superior en el ámbito hispánico”. More info
- Individual presentations:
- “Instrumentos de regulación de la calidad universitaria y políticas de educación superior en España” - Jacint Jordana, Ana García Juanatey, David Sancho. More info
- “La Regulación de la Calidad de la Educación Superior en México: ¿El surgimiento de un Nuevo Régimen de Regulación?” - Bolivar G. Portugal Celaya, Ixchel Pérez-Durán. More info
June 9, 2017. Workshop “Regulatory Governance in Higher Education: a Comparative Analysis of Instruments, Agencies and Audiences (UniRegov)”. More info
