Globalization and dilemma of management of quality in higher education

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of globalization on management of quality in higher education. A Meta-evaluation methodology is used to see how much the current research-supporting hypothesis is related to divergence, convergence or meso of quality management in higher education. In the light of three debates related to the nature of globalization, consequences of globalization and role of globalization in promotion of democracy and human rights, three controversial hypotheses are studied. It is suggested that forces behind these three hypotheses cannot be assessed in isolation, independently of one another, nor from a perspective of either convergence or divergence among them. Rather, globalization, regionaliz- ation, and nationalism should be captured and studied as forces relative to and overlapping one another, sometimes antagonistic and sometimes cooperative toward each other but never harmonious.