Research Handbook on Quality, Performance and Accountability in Higher Education

The role, scale and expectations of higher education institutions have changed dramatically in recent times as knowledge intensity has become a key determinant of economic competitiveness. Higher education institutions face increasing pressure to demonstrate their fitness to meet the needs of society and individuals. Questions about the quality, performance and productivity of higher education are central to these concerns, and of relevance to society, governments and students. This Research Handbook brings together international scholars to address these issues and propose how to move beyond them. This Research Handbook is the first comprehensive reference of its kind, laying out current research in the field and bringing it up to date with cutting-edge theoretical and empirical contributions from leading international experts. Blending new research with richly contextualised national and regional examples, the authors give authoritative insights from around the globe on how best to understand, assess and improve quality, performance and accountability in higher education. This Research Handbook will become an invaluable tool for practitioners in higher education and education policy-making as well as researchers and students of social science and public policy.