EQUAL was founded on European roots and therefore its perspective is based on the principles of subsidiarity and co-operation. In the spirit of a network organisation operating in an area of great cultural diversity, EQUAL sees its key role as promoting continuous quality improvement through the exchange of information on best practice and the support of agencies in the field of quality assessment and education.

EQUAL has members from over 15 countries. The members are different: most of the members are associations of business schools, like ABS-Finland or ABS-UK. Some are associations of business school graduates, like SEFE from Finland or Civilekonomerna from Sweden. In addition to these, three of the most important accreditation agencies are also members, EFMD, which gives the EQUIS accreditation, AACSB and AMBA. Also GMAC which develops the GMAT test is also a member.

One of the major achievements of EQUAL was the drafting of the “Dynamic Model for Quality Development”, which served as the basis for the design of the EQUIS accreditation system of EFMD.

EQUAL meets about three times per year. EQUAL can run different projects through cooperation of its members and also adopt policy papers of guidelines on different topics. EQUAL guidelines include for example guidelines on MBAs, guidelines on the certification of lifelong learning in management and guidelines on doctoral education.

For more information about EQUAL, please visit http://www.efmd.org/business-schools/equal