Performing quality or chasing rankings? Rethinking compliance-driven quality assurance in universities through the TESCEA transformative approach

Oct 15, 2026

This study explores participatory quality assurance (QA) reforms at Gulu University, Uganda, under the TESCEA project, using a qualitative interpretivist approach with a single instrumental case study. Faculty, administrators, students, and external stakeholders’ perceptions were examined through semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and non-participant observation, with thematic analysis using deductive and inductive coding. Results show early gains in ownership, collaboration, and mission alignment, but rising compliance pressures shift practice toward proceduralism, causing mission drift, fatigue, and reduced innovation. Leadership and adaptive strategies sustain mission-aligned QA, while recommendations stress flexible accreditation and context-sensitive evaluation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

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Introduction

Statement of the problem

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 13(4), pp. 472-485, November 2025 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper Performing quality or chasing rankings? Rethinking compliance-driven quality assurance in universities through the TESCEA transformative approach Gloria Lamaro1*, Elly Kurobuza Ndyomugyenyi2 and George Ladaah Openjuru3 1Department of Education Management, Faculty of Education and Humanities, Gulu University, Gulu City, Uganda. 2Department of Animal Production and Range Management, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Gulu University, P.O. Box 166, Gulu City, Uganda. 3Department of ODELL, Faculty of Education and Humanities, Gulu University, P.O. Box 166, Gulu City, Uganda. Accepted 19 November, 2025 | ABSTRACT
This study explores the dynamics of participatory quality assurance (QA) reforms at Gulu University, Uganda, under the Transforming Employability for Social Change in East Africa (TESCEA) project. Adopting a qualitative, interpretivist paradigm, the research employed a single instrumental case study design to examine how faculty, administrators, students, and external stakeholders perceived, interpreted, and engaged with QA processes. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and non-participant observation, and analyzed using thematic analysis with both deductive and inductive coding. Findings reveal that participatory QA design initially enhanced stakeholder ownership, collaboration, and alignment with institutional mission, particularly regarding employability, gender responsiveness, and community engagement. However, external compliance pressures from national accreditation and donor reporting gradually redirected focus toward proceduralism, producing mission drift, stakeholder fatigue, and constrained innovation. Strong leadership, intrinsic motivation linked to the social mission, and adaptive stakeholder strategies emerged as key enablers sustaining mission-aligned QA practices. The study contributes to theory by linking participatory QA, institutional isomorphism, and Theory of Change frameworks, highlighting the tension between locally meaningful reform and externally imposed accountability. Recommendations emphasize flexible accreditation frameworks, participatory governance, and context-sensitive evaluation to ensure sustainable, transformative QA in African higher education.
Keywords: Quality assurance, higher education, participatory governance, institutional reform, compliance pressures, TESCEA, Africa. | | --- | | *Corresponding author. Email: [g.lamaro@gu.ac.ug](g.lamaro@gu.ac.ug). | INTRODUCTION As QA systems increasingly privilege quantifiable indicators, universities are incentivized to demonstrate performance through standardized templates, reporting cycles, and measurable outcomes that often fail to capture the complexity of teaching, learning , or community engagement. Scholars argue that such metric-driven environments produce “performativity cultures,” where institutions and academics engage in symbolic compliance rather than substantive improvement (Ball, 2003; Harvey and Newton, 2007) . For higher education institutions in the Global South, these pressures can be particularly acute, as they operate within asymmetrical global knowledge regimes that privilege Western-centric definitions of excellence while marginalizing local epistemologies, contextual priorities, and socio-economic realities (Hazelkorn, 2015) . As a result, QA reforms implemented under donor-funded or internationally benchmarked projects often risk being appropriated into existing compliance cultures instead of transforming them. Within this broader landscape, the TESCEA project sought to introduce a more participatory and contextresponsive approach to quality and curriculum reform, encouraging collaboration across faculties, integration of Lamaro et al. 473 gender-responsive pedagogy, and alignment of teaching with community needs and employabil

FAQs

What is the central research focus of the study?

The study examines how participatory QA reforms under TESCEA were perceived and enacted at Gulu University, and how external compliance demands affected those processes.

Which methods and analytical approach does the study use?

It uses a qualitative interpretivist paradigm with a single instrumental case study, collecting data via semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and non-participant observation, then applying thematic analysis with deductive and inductive coding.

What tensions emerge between participatory reform and compliance pressures?

The findings indicate that while participatory design initially supports ownership and mission alignment, external accreditation and donor reporting pressures gradually encourage proceduralism, mission drift, stakeholder fatigue, and constrained innovation.

Oct 15, 2026

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