Understanding challenges in institutional external evaluation in Türkiye: perspectives from higher education quality assurance stakeholders

The study looks into the challenges to Institutional External Evaluation (IEE) of higher education in Türkiye. In line with global occurrences such as internationalization, massification, and technological growth, Türkiye strengthened its quality assurance practices by founding the Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) in 2015. THEQC’s main goal is to administer institutional external evaluations of universities, identifying strengths and areas for improvement in terms of quality assurance. The study adopted a qualitative approach with the perspectives of 27 participants involved in the IEE process; the data were collected through semi-structured interviews with purposeful sampling. The findings highlight several challenges, including a lack of transparent attitude of IEE, resistance to changes in quality assurance practices, and institutional challenges with three sub-themes: institutional differences, the complex nature of IEE, and the issues encountered during the report writing process.