Abstract:

Quality assurance in higher education has become a global movement in the last two decades. Quality assurance models from established systems have been transferred to less developed countries. However, whether this transfer is successful has been in debate since there is a large gap between those systems in terms of contexts, culture, and available conditions. My study investigated the challenges that a developing country encountered in the adoption of a successful quality assurance model from an established system. Using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, I collected and analysed data of three sources: policy documents, a large-scale survey with 290 Vietnamese key quality assurance individuals working across the higher education system, and interviews with 23 key members, including national policy makers, accreditors, and quality assurance managers at accreditation centres and higher education institutions. My findings revealed that Vietnamese quality assurance in higher education faced numerous challenges at the macro, meso, and micro levels. Some of the major issues are low efficacy of quality assurance practice, lack of effective supervision and evaluation, lack of independence in quality assurance, problems of quality assessment standards, shortage of qualified quality assurance personnel, and insufficient funding for quality assurance. My study can serve as a reference source for Vietnamese higher education policy makers to make adjustments so that the adopted quality assurance policies and programs align with the context and conditions of Vietnam. The study can also be a reference source for other developing countries that share a higher education context similar to Vietnam.

Keywords:

Quality assurance, higher education, challenges, Vietnam.