Implementation of internal quality assurance in Zimbabwean universities

Abstract

The study aimed to establish internal quality assurance practices in the academic staff at Chinhoyi University of Technology. The mixed method strategy and the convergent parallel design were adopted for the study. A questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions and an interview guide were enlisted for the study. Simple random sampling was employed to select 40 academics to complete the questionnaires. Of these, 10 respondents were purposively selected for interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and qualitative data were coded and put into respective thematic areas. The main findings were that the quality assurance practices were characterised by limited student engagement, staff resistance, limited financial support and weak quality culture. The main deficiencies were management decisions not informed by quality data metrics and limited commitment to quality issues by staff.

Keywords: Culture, quality assurance, quality culture, internal quality, external quality;