Expanded and increasingly diversified systems of higher education are generally differentiated vertically and/or horizontally. National quality management systems attempt to identify both kinds of differences in quality and standards across their higher education systems. But different quality management systems and processes can pose different…

This chapter examines the current uses of alumni studies in the United Kingdom and outlines their challenges and limitations to informing policy and curriculum reform.

Five papers address issues in the current debate in the United Kingdom over standards in higher education, especially the "Graduate Standards" program of the Higher Education Quality Council. The first paper, an introduction by John Brennan, identifies key issues in the standards debate such as the role of mass education, the various…

Examines relationships which exist internationally between contexts, methods, and impact on institutions of external quality assessments in higher education. Argues that debates about quality assessment are frequently debates about power and change. Case studies of the University of Aalborg (Denmark), Uppsala University (Sweden), and Monash…

Two surveys involving approximately 8,000 university and polytechnic institute graduates in Germany and the United Kingdom were conducted to analyze employment; income; position and status; work assignments; gender differences; and influence of type of institution, subject of study, and socioeconomic background. Experiences of British and German…