53
March 2011
OPINION
- External review and cultural differences
There is such an abundance of international co-operation, benchmarking and experience-sharing going on between European quality assurance agencies that it is sometimes easy to forget the differences that persist. A quality assurance agency and the type of evaluation method it utilises are, in my opinion, very much a product of the respective country's system of higher education. The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council (FINHEEC), for example, has chosen a very enhancement-led quality audit model because of the need to respect university autonomy, a deeply rooted characteristic of the culture of higher education in Finland. Not every type of evaluation method is compatible with every culture of higher education however.
Matti Kajaste - Senior advisor, Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council (FINHEEC)
Via Laietana, 28, 5a planta 08003 Barcelona. Spain. Tel.: +34 93 268 89 50
© 2011 AQU Catalunya - Legal number B-21.910-2008
