Quality Management in Professional Education

In the 1980s, service sector companies worldwide began to adopt quality management systems such as ISO 9001 certification to remain competitive. In the mid-1990s Swiss education, in particular vocational schools, faced poor academic and post-education employment results. Professional education did not train students adequately in skills needed in a rapidly changing economy, notably in new technologies. Many vocational schools sought ISO 9001 certification to address these problems. The purpose of the study is to analyze the effectiveness of quality management in education by comparing schooling processes and student outcomes between ISO 9001 certified and non-certified vocational commercial colleges of upper secondary education. Measurements were made at the level of the institution. Each indicator was analyzed to evaluate the impact of ISO certification. Certified institutions outperformed the non certified in most indicators, but no statistically significant relationship was found. However, the study helps shed light on the field of quality management in education and proposes some valuable recommendations to school leaders, government authorities, and researchers.