Effectiveness of internal quality assurance systems for education in the light of the results of programme evaluations conducted by the Polish Accreditation Commitee

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the internal quality assurance systems implemented at the Polish universities providing education in the field of management. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the aim of this study, the qualitative analysis of preexisting data was applied to examine the documents. The subject of this study included the reports on programme evaluations conducted between 2020 and 2023 by the evaluation teams of the Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA) at universities providing education in the field of management. Findings: It was found that the internal educational quality assurance systems implemented at the evaluated HEIs are not fully effective (the evaluation teams formulated remarks related to inadequate operation of the systems in as many as 70% of the evaluated HEIs). The areas of the systems that should be given priority by the HEIs when implementing measures to improve their effectiveness include the process of reviewing and improving the curricula, the process of defining and verifying the assumed learning outcomes and the graduation process. Research limitations/implications: The examination included the reports on educational quality assessments conducted in only one field of study (management). Therefore, the obtained results cannot be generalised so as to cover the entire population of higher education institutions in Poland. Practical implications: The results of the examination may constitute an inspiration for the Polish universities (not only those providing education in the field of management) to determine and implement measures aimed to increase the effectiveness of the internal systems of educational quality assurance, and as a result improve the quality of provided educational services. Originality/value: Identifying the weaknesses of the internal quality assurance systems implemented at HEIs providing management education and the elements of the systems that should be prioritised by HEIs when taking measures to improve their effectiveness.