This papar presents the literature based research into the quality assurance practices in higher education. A framework consisting of five components - leadership and management, stakeholder engagement, internal processes, cooperation and collaboration, and culture of continuous quality improvement - will be presented. | QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITIES Nguyen Thu Le Hang* Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Pham Van Dong, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam Received 19 August 2018 Revised 25 September 2018; Accepted 28 September 2018 Abstract: This papar presents the literature based research into the quality assurance practices in higher education. A framework consisting of five components - leadership and management, stakeholder engagement, internal processes, cooperation and collaboration, and culture of continuous quality improvement - will be presented. The study analyses these five components as the driving factors for quality assurance and quality improvement at the institutional level. Finally, the implications for Vietnamese higher education will be provided. Among these implications is the need to manage quality assurance as organisational change for sustainability. Keywords: quality assurance, leadership and management, stakeholder engagement, internal processes, cooperation and collaboration, culture of continuous quality improvement 1. Introduction 1 Quality has implicitly been a concern of higher education institutions since the founding of the mediaeval universities in Europe (Van Vught & Westerheijden, 1994). Vroeijenstijn (1995, quoted in Newton, 2006) claimed that ‘the concept of quality is not new: it has always been part of the academic tradition’. In the same vein, the IIEP-UNESCO (2011) reviewed that ‘quality assurance of higher education, by state authorities, collective higher education institution bodies, or higher education institutions themselves is by no means a new practice and request’ (p. 13). In the last decades, quality assurance has become a global concern regarding quality and standards, there has been an international market for quality assurance services, national and regional quality agencies have been established, endeavours have .
