This chapter sets up the basis of a conceptual framework for the comparative study of quality assurance in higher education. It approaches quality assurance as a policy domain and looks into the policies that are formulated and implemented therein. The objective pursued by the construction of such a framework is to check for crossnational policy convergence and the extent to which national idiosyncrasies still play a role – and, if so, of which nature – in the current context of international harmonisation. More generally, the proposed framework aims at providing a range of tools to understand cross-national convergence in quality assurance policy, the mechanisms through which this convergence takes place, the components of the quality assurance policy that converge and those that, on the contrary, do not.
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Perellon, J.F. (2007). Analysing Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Proposals for a Conceptual Framework and Methodological Implications. In: Westerheijden, D.F., Stensaker, B., Rosa, M.J. (eds) Quality Assurance In Higher Education. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6012-0_6
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