(2244) FACING UP THE CHALLENGE: WHY IS IT SO HARD TO ASSESS GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES WITHIN THE EGYPTIAN UNIVERSITY SECTOR?

摘要

Graduate attributes implementation has received considerable attention in recent years as universitiesworldwide seek to embed and assess them in taught courses. While university quality assurancemodels support graduate attributes assessment, the effectiveness of this undertaking is often limitedby the influence of a range of contextual factors. This paper discusses these factors and suggests thatthe assessment of graduate attributes is affected by a number of complexities that is unlikely to beresolved unless these contextual factors are addressed on the university level. Empirical data wascollected, using semi-structured interviews, from a purposive sample of academics teaching indifferent undergraduate programmes of study within the Egyptian university sector. To ensure thevalidity of the data, more information was collected from the documents that represent the differenteducational policies and practices implemented in these programmes of study. Through thematic dataanalysis and by applying complexity theory as a conceptual framework, the study identified thedifferent contextual factors that affected the assessment of graduate attributes in Egyptianundergraduate degree courses.