E-Quality: linking quality and social inclusion in higher education in Croatia

PROJECT CONSORTIUM:

Institute for Social Research (IDIZ) / University of Rijeka / University of Zadar / The University of Applied Sciences “Marko Marulic” in Knin / Association for Higher Education Development “Universitas” / Agency for Science and Higher Education

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT:

The E-Quality project focuses on the development of quality culture that includes reflection on the social inclusion in higher education at higher education institutions in in Croatia.

MAIN OBJECTIVE:

Main project objective is to develop an institutional quality culture at higher education institutions in Croatia which values social inclusion as one of its core elements.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

• to develop socially inclusive quality assurance procedures at partner higher education institutions
• to develop a pilot “quality label” to be awarded to socially inclusive higher education institutions in Croatia

MAIN RESULTS OF THE PROJECT:

• Identified obstacles, threats and needs for access and participation of disadvantaged students in partner higher education institutions
• Quality assurance committees at partner institutions trained on developing socially inclusive quality assurance procedures
• Quality assurance procedures at partner institutions upgraded and introduce a new social inclusion component
• Recommendations developed for the Agency for Science and Higher Education for socially inclusive quality assurance procedures at higher education institutions in Croatia
• Developed pilot “quality label” for socially inclusive higher education institutions

All the results are published in the key output of the project, which is the series of six publications that address quality enhancement and fostering equity and social inclusion in higher education. The ‘E-Quality Edition” comprises the following publications whchi is 4 more than planned by the project, 2 of which were published in print and 4 are available as onlibne publications