National quality assessment systems in the Nordic countries: developing a balance between external and internal needs?

The article compares national quality assessment systems of higher education in Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The intention is to study whether there is a balance between internal institutional and external societal needs in the design and organisation of quality assessment systems. The study shows that the systems are highly adjusted to each country's specific governing strategy for higher education, and that these procedures so far have resulted in very incremental changes in the existing power structures of higher education.