Development and Quality Management to Achieve Equity in Higher Education: Policies and Tools

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article presents an investigation carried out within the Regional Observatory Project for Quality and Equity in Latin America (ORACLE), an Erasmus + initiative financed by the European Union (with more than 35 Latin American Universities involved), conducted in 2018 and 2019 in the Institute of of Education (IE) at Universidad ORT Uruguay. The objective was to identify vulnerable groups and to gather information about the visibility and impact of the developed policies on quality of inclusion in higher education, as well as gathering data about possible improvements in the management system to achieve equity. The methodology approach is mixed. In terms of the visibility of inclusive practices in the postgraduate degrees, all bodies identify a positive impact, especially due to the access to scholarships, the blended modality of the courses, the ease of access to bibliography and learning resources, and the personalized accompaniment of teachers during all stages of their educational process at the Institute of Education. Some guidelines for new strategies to ensure quality for equity have been presented to other universities involved in the project and are being taken as an example of good inclusion practices in the region and for the joint development of equity management tools.