Demographic Impact on the Quality Management System: European Guidelines in a South African Context

Since many years, the European Standards and Guidelines are used to assess the quality within Higher Educational Institutions. Due to the increasing international cooperation between universities and university colleges, these standards and guidelines provide an adequate foundation to assess the quality of all potential international partners inside and outside Europe. Due to a mutual desire for collaboration, a group of Belgian academics audited a private Higher Educational Institution in South Africa. Significant demographic differences between Europe and South Africa have a significant impact on the perceived quality. It is the aim of this paper to assess the specific demographic and societal influences which have a direct impact on several student-related processes and the perceived quality of those processes. It is found that a multitude of external factors influence a Quality Management System. More precisely, the impact of the local demographic, cultural, ethnic and economical conditions on the student recruitment, student retention and student employability are considered.