Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area: Development and Inspiration

Abstract

With the role of higher education in economic development, international competitiveness, and social cohesion becoming more important, quality assurance in higher education has become a focus for all countries. Hassan (2013) pointed out that accountability, quality, and productivity are key concepts for higher education reforms in the 21st century. As a lifeline of higher education, quality is both a requirement of accountability and the key to improving productivity. As early as the 1980s, Europe had begun to pay increasing attention to quality assurance in higher education. With political and economic integration of European states and the promotion of the Bologna Process, quality assurance in higher education had been defined as one of its main goals. In order to ensure a unified framework and standard for the quality assurance activities in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), enhance the transparency of systems, and promote the mobility of staff and students in the area, the E4-Group members (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education [ENQA], European Students’ Union [ESU], European University Association [EUA], and European Association of Institutions in Higher Education [EURASHE]) jointly drafted and published the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area in 2005 (ESG 2005). The introduction of the ESG 2005 greatly promoted the development of higher education quality activities in Europe and has become the cornerstone of quality assurance in the EHEA. Following implementation of the ESG 2005, corresponding experience was accumulated, and new developments emerged in higher education; the ENQA thus revised ESG 2005 in 2015 (ESG 2015) to enhance its applicability. Given that China has since launched its Double First-Class Initiative (develop world-level first class universities and disciplines), reviewing the development history, contents, and concepts of the ESG can help shed light on the quality assurance processes in higher education and assist in the construction of world-class universities.