Attention shifted in recent years from design and implementation to use and usefulness of quality
assurance. Scientific studies focus increasingly on quality assurance’s impact on curricula and
on individual teachers. Which (f)actors influence follow‐up activities and what is their relation to
improvement of education? One factor that we single out is teachers’ experience of quality assurance
and how that influences the climate for quality work in higher education institutions, against
the backdrop of the social context in which quality assurance was introduced. The paper critically
analyses a number of studies on the topic.