Perspectives on quality assurance in higher education in Norway

Quality assurance is well known internationally but the notion is relatively new in Norway. To understand some of the issues and dilemmas that emerge in the Norwegian reception of quality assurance in higher education, this article traces how quality assurance is gaining its form and how international trends are understood, transposed and adopted in Norwegian higher education. A contextual understanding is provided through a brief look at how ideas about quality work have developed in Norwegian higher education in the past 10 to 15 years. Empirical data comes from a review of the expert committee reports from the first five national quality assurance audits in Norwegian higher education. The review shows dilemmas inherent in quality assurance as well as issues that might be left out by such systems.