Editorial

Abstract

As 2021 progresses, the main topic of concern in higher education remains the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and it would be strange not to mention it in an editorial relating to research on quality in the sector. The core issue resulting from the pandemic, the shift to online learning, has been highlighted by the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) publishing a report in December 2020 entitled How UK Higher Education Providers Managed the Shift to Digital Delivery During the Covid-19 Pandemic. The conclusion of this report, that this shift has been managed swiftly and effectively in the UK, was perhaps unsurprising and the main concerns relating to quality emerging from the pandemic are about institutional engagement with live-streaming technology. A recent QAA event at the University of East Anglia has highlighted similar concerns but also argued that ‘one of the more positive legacies of the pandemic is the realisation that as educators and learners we are in this together and it is teamwork that will lead to our success’ (Gulliver, 2021). However, despite the unique circumstances of the last year and a half, underlying issues of quality remain a concern for commentators in the sector. In this issue of Quality in Higher Education, several long-standing and cross-cutting issues have been addressed, in particular those of the meaning and measurement of excellence and how stakeholders engage with and reflect on quality management processes. The controversial subject of rankings has attracted two studies that discuss participation in quality assurance processes, the ways in which quality is defined and the impact of quality processes on higher education. First, Abdel Rahman Mitib Altakhaineh and Aseel Zibin critically review three well-known university ranking methodologies in relation to universities in the Arab region, highlighting the ways in which they are used in the region. They argue that although socalled leading ranking systems are popular in the region, they are somewhat inappropriate for identifying key issues. In the second paper, Jennifer Easley, Lesley Strawderman, Kari Babski-Reeves, Stanley Bullington and Brian Smith also explore the veracity of international rankings. They argue that university rankings have become a proxy for quality and excellence but that quality factors identified by their research participants do not align with methodologies for any of the rankings under review. QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION 2021, VOL. 27, NO. 3, 279–281 https://doi.org/10.1080/13538322.2021.1982448