Since 2010, Quality Assurance (QA) has been officially adopted and has become a priority of the Higher Education (HE) system in Algeria. This study is part of this framework and aims to explore the role of leadership in the QA process as perceived by Quality Management Managers (QMRs). It is based on a qualitative approach through interviews with 27 QMRs from different institutions. Content analysis technique was used to analyse data. The results show that QMRs consider the lack of commitment and involvement of institutions’ higher management as a major constraint to the success of quality processes. The study reveals that the main barrier to QA is related to the limitations of institutions’ governance, which do not promote autonomy and effectiveness. The study suggests that two elements seem to be crucial: autonomy and training/awareness of institutions’ higher managers. Those elements are closely linked and could be at the origin of the success or failure of quality mechanisms.

Research purpose. This paper aims to explore Algerian academics’ perceptions of constraints to quality assurance recently implemented in higher education. Design / Methodology / Approach. Data was collected through a survey. An online questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was distributed to the Algerian academics through a snowball sampling method. In total, 121 answers were collected and treated using descriptive statistics. Findings. The analysis reveals that academics perceived constraints in all dimensions examined in this study. The main constraints were: the low involvement of different stakeholders in quality assurance projects, the weakness of internal and external communication, the absence of evidence of compliance with the national standard, the lack of involvement of academics in the development of action plans and the lack of follow-up. These constraints seem to hinder the quality assurance implementation process at the Higher Education Institutions (of the sample). These results may represent a challenge for institutions. Originality / Value / Practical implications. The study is original in that it examines a recent subject that is little dealt with in Algeria. The main contribution of this research is an analytical discussion of perceptions of academics about quality barriers encountered in Higher Education Institutions, leading to a significant enrichment of the literature.

Algeria has introduced the institutional self-assessment as Quality Assurance (QA) approach in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) at the national level. It has been formalized in official reports communicated to the Ministry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate self-assessment practices implemented in HEIs in a comparative perspective. The method of qualitative content analysis of self-assessment reports was used, based on category system deduced from the literature review. Results show that the HEIs followed common approaches with some differences in the deployment of steps and the importance given to them. The study concludes by highlighting the implemented processes advantages and difficulties and producing important recommendations for improvement of future self-assessment exercises.

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