A MACROANALYSIS OF QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER-EDUCATION

In most West European countries a quality control system for higher education is in a process of development. This article examines some general characteristics of the emerging structures, how quality is defined and what impact this definition has on internal evaluation. On the basis of a more substantive conceptualization of the term quality, the current trend of a quality control system in which quality is predominantly defined from one central power centre is questioned. Important methodological and substantive weaknesses inherent in this centralist model will be discussed. In the final section a shift towards a quality control system is advocated in which other interests and perspectives are taken into account. © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers.