Conceptual modality in quality assurance and its relationship to other properties of external evaluations

This research examines the conceptual properties of quality in external evaluations of study programmes within Slovenian higher education. It maps how evaluators apply six conceptual modalities: quality as consistency, fitness for purpose, quality in economic terms, quality as transformation, technocratic quality and academic quality. The analysis shows how these concepts are distributed across external evaluations, how their prevalence relates to how often evaluative judgements are made according to specific standards of quality and how critical they are. Findings confirm that external quality assurance focuses on rights, responsibilities, stakeholder participation, organisation and management, particularly when calling for improvements. Considerations related to educational value or outcomes of teaching, research and curricula, however, are less frequently and less critically emphasised. This research contributes to understanding the properties of external evaluations and how they affect higher education. It highlights the need for quality assurance and enhancement to become more exact, transparent and context-sensitive.