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Higher Education in Latin America and the Challenges of the 21st Century pp 43–57Cite as

The Diffusion of Policies for Quality Assurance in Latin America: International Trends and Domestic Conditions

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Abstract

This chapter investigates the dissemination of national initiatives to build quality assurance regimes in higher education in Latin America. In some countries, it took place amid comprehensive reforms; in others, it was a byproduct of the country’s participation in processes of regional integration. For still others, institutional innovation was mostly symbolic. Whatever the path, institutional mechanisms to assess and certify course programs and institutions spread throughout the region over the first years of the twenty-first century. In all cases, it was superimposed on the institutional framework already in place for regulating and overseeing the content of what was taught in higher education institutions, which, in many cases, limited innovation and institutional differentiation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Mercosur (in Spanish), Mercosul (in Portuguese) or Ñemby Ñemuha (in Guarani) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991. Its full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela is also a full member but has been suspended since December 1, 2016. Since its foundation, Mercosur's functions have been updated and amended many times; it currently confines itself to a customs union.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciência Política, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Elizabeth Balbachevsky

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  1. Elizabeth Balbachevsky
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Correspondence to Elizabeth Balbachevsky .

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  1. Instituto de Estudos de Política Econômica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Simon Schwartzman

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Balbachevsky, E. (2020). The Diffusion of Policies for Quality Assurance in Latin America: International Trends and Domestic Conditions. In: Schwartzman, S. (eds) Higher Education in Latin America and the Challenges of the 21st Century. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44263-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44263-7_4

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