Accreditation in higher education in Chile: results and consequences
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881311293043 |
| Published date | 25 January 2013 |
| Pages | 20-38 |
| Date | 25 January 2013 |
| Author | Óscar Espinoza,Luis Eduardo González |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Accreditation in higher education
in Chile: results and
consequences
O
´scar Espinoza
Center of Educational Research, University Ucinf,
Santiago, Chile, and Center of Comparative Education Policies,
University Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile, and
Luis Eduardo Gonza
´lez
CINDA, Santiago, Chile, and Center of Educational Research,
University Ucinf, Santiago, Chile
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss the results that the accreditation
system implemented in Chile has brought to higher education institutions and undergraduate and
graduate programs, taking into account both its positive and negative implications.
Design/methodology/approach – The examination of the Chilean accreditation regime relies on
descriptive statistics based on official data from several sources.
Findings – It appears that the Chilean accreditation regime has helped to establish permanent
procedures for quality assurance in higher education institutions which has resulted in improving its
internal processes, but still the system faces a series of challenges that have to be addressed in order to
improve the higher education system as a whole.
Originality/value – The Chilean accreditation experience is placed within the discussion and
context of accreditation systems around the world, and lessons which can be relevant to other
countries are drawn.
Keywords Institutionalaccreditation,Programaccreditation, Qualityassurance, Undergraduatestudies,
Graduate studies,Chile, Higher education
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
Studies show that there are a set of common factors that significantly affect the
development of tertiary education systems such as the growth and diversification of
higher education, the introduction of competition and market logic in the sector
(Teixeira, 2006), the need to respond to the demands of globalization (Woodhouse,
2006), the technological innovation and the rapid change of knowledge (Becker and
Round, 2009; Brennan and Shah, 2000; El-Khawas et al., 1998; Harvey, 2002;
Middlehurst and Woodhouse, 1995).
In this context of transformation, the modern university faces the challenge of
adjusting to a complex world with new demands for professions and skills associated
with the knowledge society. To this there has to be added new tasks, such as
knowledge management and greater demands for accountability and efficiency (Neu
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
The authors acknowledge their colleague Javier Loyola who helped them to translate this paper.
QAE
21,1
20
Received 11 July 2012
Revised 8 October 2012
Accepted 9 October 2012
Quality Assurance in Education
Vol. 21 No. 1, 2013
pp. 20-38
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/09684881311293043
et al., 2008). To successfully meet these important challenges, it is fundamental that
universities’ governing bodies have good relations with the academic community in
general in order to provide a satisfactory academic environment and give value-added
to the students’ experience, along with permitting the development of an appropriate
curriculum and relevant research, a continuous evaluation of its processes, and finally
respond to the social and productive needs of its environment (Cifuentes and Landoni,
2011).
Nowadays, the new technological changes associated with the knowledge society
have increased the value of education. Rodrı
´guez and Wilson (2000) argued that, due to
the particular synergies between technology and human capital, high levels of
education may be a necessary condition for technological innovation and adaptation.
Therefore, there is a greater interest among the population for higher education, which
is expressed in a growing demand for tertiary studies. This happens in a context of
vegetative growth of the population with complete secondary education. This new
reality has encouraged the emergence of a heterogeneous higher education supply from
the private sector with very diverse academic quality, which certainly demonstrates
the need for the implementation of quality assurance systems (UNESCO, 2009).
Consistent with the above, in Latin America, the student population and the number
of higher education institutions have rapidly increased. Latin America’s student
population has grown from around 300,000 in 1950 to 20 million today. More than half
of this student body attends private institutions. The number of higher education
institutions has increased, in the same period, from 75 to 3,000. Of these hig her
education institutions, today almost two-thirds are private (Espinoza et al., 2006). This
new scenario has raised the question about how to assure the quality of both the
traditional Latin American higher education institutions and particularly of those
recently created ones, which is especially important in a region that requires
professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to push for the development of
these countries.
Certainly the last two decades have witnessed the need to develop mechanisms and
tools in order to improve and ensure the quality of higher education institutions,
professional careers and programs such that:
.there are guarantees to society about the provision of minimum standards of
educational opportunities and adequate employment performance of graduates;
.there is suitable and sufficient information to make good choices;
.users’ demands are satisfied; and
.there are mechanisms for higher education institutions to account for what they
do (Neu et al., 2008; Storen and Aamodt, 2010).
The importance of this to Latin America is given by the great number of private higher
education institutions existing today in the region, many of which do not pursue the
common good, but rather work only according to market principles. The latter has
resulted in situations of oversupply of graduates in certain careers and in academic
quality deficiencies, among other things.
The methods of quality assurance developed in both Latin America and Europe
have been shaped to the needs and characteristics of their higher education systems,
with very diverse approaches. However there are common characteristics that
Accreditation in
higher education
21
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