Attractive carrots, bland sticks: organizational responses to regulatory policy in Argentine graduate education

Abstract

Most countries, developing as well as developed, have adopted some type of quality assurance mechanism. Argentina is neither an island nor an outlier in higher education reforms in general. This study is based on case study design and involved extensive fieldwork to collect interviews and official documents. This article analyzes the regulatory framework that established compulsory accreditation by identifying the main actors involved, the external factors that affect compliance, and university and program responses to them. The findings show that the regulatory framework is plagued by issues of coordination and overlap among agencies, affecting levels of compliance and types of responses at the organizational level. While the structure of incentives is clear, there are no clear sanctions or credible threats. Yet, programs tend to comply with accreditation. The study shows great variability among academic disciplines and types of programs. Findings are linked to developments in other developed and developing countries.

Quality assurance through accreditation: When resistance meets over‐compliance

“…CONEAU has substantial leverage to make modifications in the evaluation of postgraduate programmes. One way the accreditation agency does it is through guidelines and executive decisions on what to evaluate (Salto, ). A detailed document analysis of accreditation reports signals a shift over time in a fundamental aspect.…”

“… This article focuses on the internal factors affecting compliance. For a presentation and discussion on the external factors, see Salto ().…”

“…Depending on the quality standards met, programmes can be categorised as A (excellent), B (very good) or C (good). Categorisation has been widely used as a tool to promote market competition (Jordana & Levi‐Faur, ; Salto, ).…”

“…| bs_bs_banner SALTO ENDNOT ES 1 Studies have found that certain organisations operating high-hazard, high-risk technologies (e.g., nuclear power plants) may not only desire to comply but also, they may incorporate external regulations with more rigorous, internally imposed regulations (LaPorte & Thomas, 1995).2 This article focuses on the internal factors affecting compliance. For a presentation and discussion on the external factors, seeSalto (2017).3 Postgraduate programme accreditation is compulsory in Argentina. Besides accreditation, programmes may opt to request categorisation.…”

“…Depending on the quality standards met, programmes can be categorised as A (excellent), B (very good) or C (good). Categorisation has been widely used as a tool to promote market competition(Jordana & Levi-Faur, 2004;Salto, 2017).4 For more information on the origins of postgraduate education in Argentina, refer toGarcía de Fanelli et al (2001), Krotsch (1996 andSalto (2014).5 Traditional private universities in Latin America, major Catholic ones specifically, have become less hierarchical than secular private institutions and more leaning toward academic governance structures(Levy, 1986).6 Standards are not established by the accreditation agency. The Ministry of Education approves a set of standards created by the Council of Universities (CU).…”