1993/01/01 by Lee Harvey, Diana Green · 4 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice #Higher Education Governance and Development #Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education
paper · doi:10.1080/0260293930180102
openalex publication_date 1993/01/01 · openalex created_date 2022/02/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper addresses the nature of the concept of quality in relation to higher education. It analyses ways of thinking about quality, considers their relevance to higher education, explores their interrelationships and examines their philosophical and political underpinnings. The relative nature of quality is examined. First, quality means different things to different people. Second, quality is relative to ‘processes’ or ‘outcomes’. The widely differing conceptualisations of quality are grouped into five discrete but interrelated categories. Quality can be viewed as exception, as perfection, as fitness for purpose, as value for money and as transformative. Determining criteria for assessing quality in higher education requires an understanding of different conceptions of quality that inform the preferences of stakeholders.