Does quality assurance reflect the social dimension of higher education?

Given the ten years since the introduction of the ESG and the five years since the formal launch of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) quality assurance of higher education has gained significant prominence on the public and political agendas. The focus has so far been on core areas including research and education, while importance is now emerging in internationalisation and support functions. With increased diversity of the student population, questions are asked on whether traditional quality assurance frameworks are innovative and morally just in assessing higher education activities. The present paper analyses how various higher education quality assurance frameworks in different countries across the globe address the development and prioritisation of social dimension across the higher education sector. The paper argues the need for governments and institutions worldwide to recognise the importance of social dimension of higher education across the world, and the need for quality assurance frameworks to be innovative in this regard.