Globalization and Internationalization: ISO 21001 as a Trigger and Prime Key for Quality Assurance of Higher Education Institutions

Talking about quality in higher education is not a new matter, as it was previously discussed by many researchers about the importance of implementing a specific quality system in higher education institutions to ensure preserving the quality of the educational process provided. Accordingly, many quality bodies have appeared in all countries of the world, which operate according to specific (almost similar) protocols to ensure the safety of educational outcomes and that the information reaches the student. Those protocols aim to guarantee that the graduate benefits from the courses they had studied and applied that information in the labor market while ensuring that this information is relevant and compatible with the labor market requirements. In a later period, and with the advent of time, new and specific terms emerged that clarify the differences related to the academic accreditation of educational institutions, including programmatic, institutional, regional, and local accreditation (and we will talk about the difference between them later in the research) and with the passage of years, a new concept emerged that the International Organization for Standards ISO introduced, namely: Management Quality Management System for Educational Institutions ISO 21001. This standard appeared in late 2017 and early 2018 and is similar in its work and goal to institutional accreditation provided by bodies for educational quality assurance and control in the European Union, USA, Canada, and all other countries worldwide. Objectives: The ISO 21001 standard is considered one of the essential protocols concerned with monitoring and developing the performance of educational institutions, monitoring the system and methodology of their work, and ensuring educational outcomes. Perhaps one of the most critical sectors benefiting from this standard is the higher education sector, with its universities, colleges, higher institutes, and vocational education institutions. This research aims to clarify the importance of higher education institutions applying the ISO 21001 standard and the logical, helpful and beneficial role that it can play in developing and improving the work of the educational institution and developing the methodology and mechanism of its performance. This research provides a comparison and approach between academic accreditation standards for several quality bodies worldwide, compares them with ISO 21001, and shows the similarity and differences between them