Evaluation of the public policy for quality assurance in higher education in Chile: A case study

This work presents an evaluation of the Chilean Public Policy for quality assurance in higher education. Such an evaluation is justified by the need to determine if the quality assurance processes have a particular role in generating spaces for inequality, and in portraying possible manifestations of a global policy in a local setting. This dissertation is organized as follows: first, it focuses on the historical inequalities present in Chilean society and its education system, which are observable in the performance results of higher education institutions; second, it focuses on the influence of global policy education discourses in the national scene, by analyzing to what extent this global policy shapes the local ones. Results are obtained on the basis of a case study analysis based on the Policy Performance Analysis approach developed by William Dunn (2011). This approach was chosen to portrait the historical process of the quality assurance policy and to trace the evidence for inequalities in the system. The analysis considered textual sources related to quality assurance policies. These documents were analyzed using Rizvi and Lingard's (2010) policy analysis perspective in order to identify the allocation of values, question the main conceptions within the texts, and compare their evolution over time. The case study draws upon several methodological techniques and sources to structure a perspective about the performance of the public policy from the 1990s to the present. By analyzing the Chilean universities ranking, the policy documents in different historical periods, and three cases of bankrupt universities, the case demonstrates how the quality assurance system has affected institutions and students in a vulnerable position. Thus, the latter is a sign of a functional quality approach of the policy and deficient state regulations, instead of a more substantive concept of quality. Consequently, this study concluded that the Chilean quality assurance policies have been unable to overcome the inequalities already present in the Chilean higher education system. Through the analysis and its results, this research seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of public policy as an instrument to overcome inequalities, as well as an instrument that can add pressure to overcoming present vulnerabilities in the Chilean higher education system.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Policy Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2019

Author dc:creator

• Poo-Dalidet, Sergio A.

Contributors dc:contributor

• McCarthy, Cameron
• Witt, Allison
• Hood, Denice
• Trent, William

• Quality Assurance, Accreditation in Higher Education, Chile

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2019 Sergio Poo-Dalidet

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/105855

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/105855