Quality assessment in portuguese higher education: an overview of the current panorama

Abstract

The qualitative study carried out in this work focuses on institutional assessment and quality management in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Portugal. Given the structure of Portuguese higher education, characterized by its binary system, which integrates university education and polytechnic education, in public institutions and private institutions, the study seeks to critically analyze the legislation that governs this process of evaluation of HEIs in Portugal and the way this unfolds. Institutional assessment and quality management of HEIs are part of a complex relationship between national law and international relations, which was reinforced after the Bologna process, emerging in the recent context of globalization. HEIs play a central and fundamental role in their evaluation, as it is through them that the process of internal quality assurance passes, through the scope of institutional autonomy, and they are also evaluated externally, a task that, in turn, is the responsibility of from the Higher Education Assessment and Accreditation Agency (A3ES), member of the European Association for Quality Assurance (ENQA). The essence of the evaluation of Portuguese higher education is characterized by complex processes, interconnected and inserted in a European and global context, about which it makes sense to talk about accountability, responsibility and accountability. One of the consequences of this evaluation process, which worries the scientific community, is the “monorational” tendency of HEIs, which must be avoided, in favor of plurality in supply and institutional diversity.