--

8 (2) 2018

Quality culture of a faculty in a Vietnamese university


Author - Affiliation:
Pham Thi Huong - Institute of Education Research, Ho Chi Minh University of Education , Vietnam
Corresponding author: Pham Thi Huong - phamhuong.mu@gmail.com

Abstract
Building a quality culture in each institution has been encouraged by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) along with the introduction of new approach to higher education, quality assurance and accreditation nearly 15 years ago. This article attempts to report one case of a multiple case study research that examines quality culture in Vietnamese higher education. Data collection methods include documentation and in-depth interviews with three groups of participants: academic leaders, academics, and quality assurance (QA) staff. Data were analysed for patterns and themes. Fourteen participants from a university volunteered to take part in this research. The findings show that the faculty under investigation traditionally assured higher education quality under a centralist mechanism. As a result, it has limited autonomy and compliant accountability of limited bottom-up engagement with decision-making processes. The faculty was found to have characteristics of a reactive quality culture.

Keywords
higher education; quality assurance and accreditation; quality culture; Vietnamese context

Full Text:
PDF

References

Altbach, P. G. (2001). Academic freedom: International realities and challenges. Higher Education, 41(1), 205-219.


Askling, B., Bauer, M., & Marton, S. (1999). Swedish universities towards self‐regulation: A new look at institutional autonomy. Tertiary Education and Management, 5(2), 175-195.


Bendermacher, G. W. G., Egbrink, M. G. A. o., Wolfhagen, I. H. A. P., & Dolmans, D. H. J. M. (2016). Unravelling quality culture in higher education: A realist review. The International Journal of Higher Education Research, 73(1), 39-60. doi: 10.1007/s10734-015-9979-2


Berdahl, R. (1990). Academic freedom, autonomy and accountability in British universities. Studies in Higher Education, 15(2), 169-180.


Bolander, K., Josephson, A., Mann, S., & Lonka, K. (2006). Teachers promoting expertise in medical education: Understanding the role of the core curriculum. Quality in Higher Education, 12(1), 41-55.


Colbeck, C. (1998). Merging in a seamless blend. Journal of Higher Education, 69(6), 647-671.


Coy, M. (2011). Putting quality at the centre of quality assurance - Where is the centre? Paper presented at the 6th European Quality Assurance Forum, Belgium.


Davidson, S., Anderson, H., Rees, M., McKenzie, L., Johnston, T., Fletcher, R., & Meyer, L. (2009). An investigation of assessment policy and practice in New Zealand higher education institutions. In L. Meyer, S. Davidson, H. Anderson, R. Fletcher, P. Johnston & M. Rees (Eds.), Tertiary assessment and higher education student outcomes: Policy, practice and research (pp. 65-76). Wellington, New Zealand: Ako Aotearoa.


Doring, A. (2002). Challenges to the academic role of change agent. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 26, 139-148.


Dunrong, B. (2007). Shifting demographics in higher education in Asia. International Higher Education, 47, 14-15.


Ellis, R. (1993). The management of quality in the University of Ulster. Higher Education, 25, 239-257.


EUA. (2006). Quality culture in european universities: A bottom-up approach. Retrieved May 15, 2018, from http://www.eua.be/eua/jsp/en/upload/Quality_Culture_2002_2003.1150459570109.pdf


Harloe, M., & Perry, B. (2004). Rethinking or hollowing out the university? External engagement and internal transformation in the knowledge economy. Paper presented at the the OECD Institutional Management in Higher Education General Conference, Paris.


Harvey, L. (2004-2005). Analytic quality glossary. Retrieved October 20, 2017, from http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/


Harvey, L., & Newton, J. (2007). Transforming quality evaluation: Moving on. In D. Westerheijden, B. Stensaker & M. J. Rosa (Eds.), Quality assurance in higher education: Trends in regulation, translation and transformation (pp. 225-245). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Springer.


Harvey, L., & Stensaker, B. (2008). Quality culture: Understandings, boundaries and linkages. European Journal of Education, 43(4), 427-442.


Harvey, L., & Williams, J. (2010). Fifteen years of quality in higher education. Quality in Higher Education, 16(1), 3-36. doi:10.1080/13538321003679457


Hayden, M., & Lam, Q. T. (2007). Institutional autonomy for higher education in Vietnam. Higher Education Research & Development, 26(1), 73-85. doi:10.1080/07294360601166828


Hayden, M., & Lam, Q. T. (2010). Vietnam’s higher education system. In P. T. Nghi, G. Harman & M. Hayden (Eds.), Reforming higher education in Vietnam: Challenges and priorities (pp. 15-30). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Spinger.


Hendry, G. D., & Dean, S. J. (2002). Accountability, evaluation of teaching and expertise in higher education. The Internarial Journal of Academic Development, 7(1), 75-82.


Houston, D., Meyer, L. H., & Paewai, S. (2006). Academic staff workloads and job satisfaction: Expectations and values in academe. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 28(1), 17-30.


Jamil, S. (2008). The growing accountability agenda: Progress or mixed blessing? Paper presented at the OECD‟s Outcomes of Higher Education: Quality, relevance and impact Conference, Paris, France.


Jenkins, A., Breen, R., Lindsay, R., & Brew, A. (2003). Reshaping teaching in higher education: Linking teaching and research. London & Sterling: Kogan Page.


Jonach, M., Gramlinger, F., & Hartl, S. (2012). Quality needs culture: The quality culture concept and its applicability in the context of (vocational) schools. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from website: www.bwpat.de.


Karpiak, I. (2000). The ‘second call’: Faculty renewal and recommitment at midlife. Quality in Higher Education, 6(2), 125-134.


Katiliute, E., & Neverauskas, B. (2009). Development of quality culture in the universities. Economics & Management, 14, 1069-1076.


Kowalkiewicz, A. (2007). The impact of quality culture on quality of teaching - A case of business higher education in Poland. In L. Bollaert et. al (Eds.), Embedding quality culture in higher education: A selection of papers from the 1st European Forum for quality assurance (pp. 63-68). Brussels: European University Association.


Kristensen, B. (2010). Has external quality assurance actually improved quality in higher education over the course of 20 years of the ‘quality’ revolution? Quality in Higher Education, 16(2), 153-157.


Kristoffersen, D., & Woodhouse, D. (2005). An overview of world issues in quality assurance for higher education. AUQA website: Australian Universities Quality Agency. Retrieved October 25, 2017, from http://www.auqa.edu.au/qualityenhancement/publications/other


Lueger, M., & Vettori, O. (2008). “Flexibilising” standards? The role of quality standards within a participative quality culture. In: A. E. Beso (Ed.), Implementing and using quality assurance: Strategy and practice (pp. 11-16). Brussels: EUA.


Meyer, L. H. (2007). Collegial participation in university governance: A case study of institutional change. Studies in Higher Education, 32(2), 225-235.


NCIHE. (1997). Higher education in the learning society: Report of the national committee of enquiry into higher education (the Dearing Report) . London, UK: HMSO.


Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (3rd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.


Pham, T. H. (2014). Quality culture in Vietnamese universities: A multiple case study of quality assurance and quality culture of business English undergraduate programmes at three universities in Vietnam. (Doctoral dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand).


Pham, T. N. (2010). The higher education reform agenda: A vision for 2020. In G. Harman, M. Hayden & T. N. Pham (Eds.), Reforming higher education in Vietnam (pp. 51-64). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Springer.


Ramsden, P., & Moses, I. (1992). Associations between research and teaching in Australian higher education. Higher Education, 23(3), 273-295.


Raza, R. (2010). Higher education governance in East Asia. Washington, DC: World Bank Flagship.


Shah, M. (2012). Ten years of external quality audit in Australia: Evaluating its effectiveness and success. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(6), 761-772.


Shin, J. C. (2015). Mass higher education and its challenges for rapidly growing East Asian higher education. In J. C. Shin, G. A. Postiglione & F. T. Huang (Eds.), Mass higher education development in East Asia: Strategy, quality, and challenge (pp. 1-23). Switzerland: Springer.


The World Bank. (2000). Higher education in developing countries: Peril and promise. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.


Thompson-Whiteside, S. (2013). Assessing academic standards in Australian higher education. In S. Marginson (Ed.), Tertiary education policy in Australia (pp. 39-58). Melbourne, Australia: Centre for the Study of Higher Education


Tran, N. D., Nguyen, T. T., & Nguyen, M. T. N. (2011). The standard of quality for HEIs in Vietnam: A step in the right direction? Quality Assurance in Education, 19(2), 130-140.


Truong, D. T. (2013). Confucian values and school leadership in Vietnam (Doctoral dissertation). Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.


Welsh, J. F., & Metcalf, J. (2003). Administrative support for institutional effectiveness activities: Responses to the ‘new accountability’. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 25, 183-193.


Yang, R., Vidovich, L., & Currie, J. (2007). “Dancing in a cage”: Changing autonomy in Chinese higher education. Higher Education, 54, 575-592. doi:10.1007/s10734-006-9009-5


Yorke, M. (2000). A cloistered virtue? Pedagogical research and policy in UK higher education. Higher Education Quarterly, 54(2), 106-126.



DOI: https://doi.org/10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.8.2.281.2018
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.