Diverse Modes of Research Quality Assurance : Comparative Study of Finland, Italy and Georgia

Abstract

Quality assurance of higher education has been a prominent topic in higher education policy within EHEA for last couple of decades, however the topic off quality assurance of research, within the national quality assurance mechanisms have gained little scholarly attention so far. Despite the absence of research-related criteria in the ESGs, many QA agencies within EHEA cover topic of research in some manner within their evaluation mechanisms. This study aspired to grasp the dynamic of how the QA agencies develop their approaches in regards to research quality assurance, via the exploration of three distinctive cases of countries, with vastly different approaches to higher education quality assurance at large: Finland, Italy and Georgia. Analytical framework was developed, that mixed the theoretical aspects new public management, policy convergence, path dependence and institutional logics, to analyze the phenomenon under the study. Document analysis was carried out, alongside to the interviews with the QA agency and relevant ministry representatives. The results of the study show the prevalence of contextual factors in each case as the key influences over the design of RQA measures, with each case experiencing significant path-dependent tendencies. Various institutional logics have been identified being at hand in each case, out of which the professional logic, alongside to the constant sense-making within the national contexts, was presented as the most potent points of explanation for the process of how the RQA measures are designed in each case. Furthermore, in contrast to the HE QA scholarship, the research was identified as the inseparable and natural part of HE QA measures within each case. The implications of the study have been discussed within field and theory and the suggestions for the future research have been promoted.