In recent years, the higher education environment is characterized by a changing nature. There are higher participation rates, there is a greater diversity in student population and lecturers need to adjust their instruction to teach more complex 21th century skills (Biggs & Tang, 2011). These changes pose challenges for higher education institutions. Examples are (1) the roles as researcher and lecturer that have become equally important for academics (Gunn & Fisk, 2013; Huisman & Seeber, 2019) and (2) the provision of high quality teaching (Biggs, 2003; Brockerhoff, Stensaker, & Huisman, 2014; Devlin & Samarawickrema, 2010). “Quality teaching is the use of pedagogical techniques to produce learning outcomes for students” (Hénard & Rosevaere, 2012, p. 7) and involves several dimensions (e.g., effective curriculum design and assessment, variety of learning context) (Hénard & Rosevaere, 2012). Through quality teaching, lecturers equip students with appropriate competencies and attributes to meet the challenges of the 21st century in order to prepare them for entry in society (Hénard & Rosevaere, 2012; Hilliard, 2012; Williams et al., 2013); thus, “teaching and learning must relate to real-world experiences” (Hilliard, 2012, p.12). To face the challenges, professional development of lecturers and collaboration between lecturers becomes indispensable within the higher education landscape (Whitchurch & Gordon, 2017).

Research towards the professional development of lecturers reveals a remarkable change. Years ago, the focus of professional development initiatives was on the individual. Now, the focus is shifted to teams (i.e., team based professional development (TBPD)) (Stensaker, 2018). Hence, the social context in which lecturers learn collaboratively (e.g., professional learning communities (PLC)) gains importance (Leibowitz, 2014). Therefore, TBPD or collaboration between lecturers within for example a PLC may offer an answer to the challenges which higher education institutions are facing. Research on both concepts is necessary within this context (Gast, Schildkamp, van der Veen, 2017; Vangrieken, Dochy, Raes & Kyndt, 2015), which is a gap this study responds to.

The purpose of this study is to find out how higher education institutions stimulate lecturer collaboration through their quality culture. Quality culture refers to the unique organizational culture of an institution (Bendermacher, oude Egbrink, Wolfhagen, & Dolmans, 2017; Harvey & Stensaker, 2008; UEA, 2006). It is characterized by shared values, beliefs, expectations and commitment towards quality (i.e., cultural/psychological element) on the one hand, and defined processes that enhance quality and aim at coordinating individual efforts (i.e., structural/managerial element) on the other hand (EUA, 2006). In other words, the quality culture of a higher education institution is about the commitment to its educational quality (Bendermacher et al., 2017). Important elements to create a healthy and strong quality culture are the professional development opportunities which are set up in higher education institutions (Leibowitz, 2014). After all, those opportunities have the aim to have an impact on lecturers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes (i.e., competencies) (Desimone, 2009; Gast et al., 2017; Guskey, 2000), which are necessary to strive for both elements of a quality culture.

In this regard, this study aims at investigating the quality culture and professional development opportunities of higher education institutions with more specifically a focus on how these organizational characteristics contribute to the stimulation of lecturer collaboration in these higher education institutions. By doing this, this study wants to contribute to the need expressed by Gast et al. (2017) to study the links between organizational factors and team/individual factors that are influential for TBPD

To find out how higher education institutions stimulate lecturer collaboration through their quality culture, an exploratory qualitative study has been set up in four higher education institutions (i.e., two universities and two university colleges) in Flanders (Belgium). In Belgium, the difference between a university and university college can be explained via the type of degrees they offer. University colleges offer mainly professional bachelor’s degrees (i.e., level 6 on the Flemish and European Qualification Framework), while universities offer academic bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees (i.e., level 6, 7 and 8 on the Flemish and European Qualification Framework). The exploratory qualitative study is shaped by a document-analysis and semi-structured interviews with the department head or a staff member of the central quality assurance service. The semi-structured interviews had the aim to explore the vision of each institution about (1) their quality culture and quality learning, (2) professional development of lecturers and (3) collaboration between lecturers. In three institutions, the interviewee was accompanied by a colleague from the professionalization department at their own request. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the interviews were held online. All the interviews were recorded and later transcribed to be subjected to qualitative analysis methods using the software program NVivo. Based on the data, codes were drafted and assigned to three main themes (i.e., Quality Culture, Professional Development, Collaboration). These codes are reported per higher education institution. In this way, for each institution a vertical analysis was made. In a second step, the findings of the vertical analyses were put together in a horizontal analysis, in which the main findings about similarities and differences (e.g., between universities and university colleges) are reported.

Our findings show that all higher institutions in Flanders (Belgium) are granted autonomy in determining their quality culture. They draw up their own strategy with values, standards and competencies to be pursued by their lecturers. This strategy is mainly translated into quality frameworks and form the basis for the quality assurance system of the institution, in which the educational quality is determined (i.e., Plan), guaranteed (i.e., Do), justified (i.e., Check ) and enhanced (i.e., Act). It is up to the lecturers to do justice to the institution's own strategy and, for example, to strive for the predefined competencies of which teamwork is put forward in all institutions in this study. Relatedly, important differences are noticed between universities and university colleges. Within university colleges, the expectation to collaborate is based on the idea that pursuing a quality culture and quality education is not a matter for an individual, but for an entire team. Within university colleges, lecturer teams are therefore jointly responsible for the courses. This way of thinking is less prevalent at universities. Here, an individual responsibility towards quality education predominates, due to the fact that more importance is attached to individual lecturer autonomy. Also, differences can be noticed in the way teamwork is enhanced via professional development initiatives. In university colleges, also professional development is seen as a team responsibility and activity rather than an individual endeavor. While in universities, exchanging insights between colleagues is stimulated, however it is left more up to the lecturers to actually do so. To further explore these findings and the impact of organizational characteristics on lecturers’ collaboration in practice, the findings of this study will be an impetus for a quantitative study about lecturers’ perceptions on lecturer collaboration and the way the institution stimulates collaboration through their quality culture.

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