Turkish Higher Education Quality Assurance: The Roles of Stakeholders in Curriculum

Today, stakeholder participation is seen as a key element for higher education quality assurance systems. The European Union emphasizes the importance of designing the educational programs of higher education institutions to meet the needs and expectations of stakeholders. The roles of stakeholders are important for the quality of education in higher education. In this study, the roles of stakeholders in curriculum designing, implementation, and evaluation process were investigated. The self-evaluation reports of five universities accredited by the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) were examined in the context of the roles of stakeholders in the program planning, implementation, and evaluation process. The results revealed that internal and external stakeholders are involved in the program planning, implementation, and evaluation processes of universities. Also, it was found that stakeholders have roles in determining needs of society and defining program competencies, making formative evaluations, and analysing program effectiveness. The implications of the study were presented to improve the quality of education in higher education.