Quality in Higher Education: internal quality assurance systems and the quality management models

Abstract

Quality assurance and accreditation processes related to Portuguese higher education are a relatively new phenomenon, deserving special relevance today after the creation, by the Portuguese State, of the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education - A3ES. The creation of this organism determined the obligation of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) accredit their study cycles and, later, implement internal systems for quality assurance. Thus, it is important to realize that these institutions have to decide which direction they have to take to better meet the requirements of the entities that steer them, and meet the needs of the market where they operate. To do this, they need to make strategic decisions that will allow them to apply effective evaluation and quality assurance mechanisms. The implementation of quality assurance internal systems implies that HEIs develop structures, mechanisms, indicators and models that support a dynamic culture of internal evaluation, allowing also responding to the requirements of external evaluation and accreditation systems. With this communication one intends to discuss how quality management models already known and universally accepted, namely ISO 9001 and EFQM, may help to address these requirements and consequently the implementation of such systems in institutions like these, characterized by a very distinct and complex culture.