Indicators of quality in Higher Education – Literature review

The educational indicators, like the rest of the social indicators, have experienced great diffusion in recent years. For this reason, education indicators are increasingly being talked about, in very different contexts and referring to very different realities. Despite the many drawbacks that present, quantitative indicators are still in the process of improvement and even creation, the truth is that they facilitate the analysis of education, although their values do not explain the causal relationships or allow conclusions to be drawn univocal. Although in the different editions (OECD, 2008) some concrete indicators have been varying, the general structure is maintained around four groups: context, resources, process, and results. Evaluating the number of students who complete the studies initiated serves not only to know the failure or academic success of a certain group of young people and, therefore, of a part of society, but also is a good way to measure the efficiency of the educational system. The articulation between the education system and the world of work is one of the priority objectives of economic development policies. The finding that in most countries the qualification of workers does not correspond to that required by employers, converts these educational indicators - which evaluate the effectiveness of education in the training of workers - into indispensable for educational and labor planning. Effectiveness of education can be increased by: eliminating discrepancies between the competences acquired by graduates of higher education and the demand of the labor market and industry; lowering the disparity between the number of students enrolled in scientific careers and in the humanities, as well as the proliferation of private service providers