Student perceptions of service quality in a UK university business and management faculty
| Date | 01 June 2000 |
| Pages | 85-95 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880010325600 |
| Published date | 01 June 2000 |
| Author | Brenda M. Oldfield,Steve Baron |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Student perceptions of
service quality in a UK
university business and
management faculty
Brenda M. Oldfield and
Steve Baron
Introduction
Much of the published work on service
quality aspects of higher education has
concentrated on effective course delivery
mechanisms, and the quality of courses and
teaching (Athiyaman, 1997; Bourner, 1998;
Cheng and Tam, 1997; McElwee and
Redman, 1993; Palihawadana, 1996; Soutar
and McNeil, 1996; Varey, 1993; Yorke,
1992). The mechanisms for measuring service
quality of courses and programmes often rely
on research instruments (e.g. student
feedback questionnaires) devised by
representatives of the higher education
institutions to provide data which address
various externally set audit criteria.
Furthermore, while it is recognised that
undergraduate student views of course/
programmes will vary over the three or four
years of study according to the units taken, it
is largely assumed that the generic elements
which make up service quality (e.g the
physical environment, or the availability of
academic staff) are perceived in a similar way
by students of all years. There is, of course, a
distinct possibility that student evaluations of
different elements of service quality may alter
over time, especially in the case of sandwich
degree students who will have experienced a
different culture during their studies.
This article presents the results of a survey
of undergraduate business students of all
years, across a variety of courses. The survey,
adapted from the SERVQUAL instrument
(Parasuraman et al., 1988; 1991), was
designed to explore what the students
themselves (as opposed to representatives of
the higher education institution) consider to
be the elements of service quality, and the
extent to which these elements are viewed
differently between first and final year
undergraduate students. The findings suggest
some ways in which the limited resources
available to higher education institutions can
be allocated, across course cohorts, in order
to enhance student perceptions of service
quality.
The first section provides a background to
the research and a brief review of the relevant
service quality literature. The second section
outlines the two-stage research method which
was adopted, giving a rationale for the specific
adaptation of the SERVQUAL instrument.
The third section presents the results of a
factor analysis which identified three higher
The authors
Brenda M. Oldfield is a Research Assistant and
Steve Baron is a Professor, both at Manchester
Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
Keywords
Service quality, Higher education, Consumer attitudes
Abstract
Student perceptions of service quality in higher education,
particularly of the elements not directly involved with
content and delivery of course units, are researched using
a performance-only adaptation of the SERVQUAL research
instrument. A principal components factor analysis
performed on data collected from a sample of 333
undergraduate business and management students
suggests that students' perceived service quality has three
dimensions: ``requisite elements'', which are essential to
enable students to fulfil their study obligations;
``acceptable elements'', which are desirable but not
essential to students; and ``functional elements'', which
are of a practical or utilitarian nature. A comparison of
perceptions of service quality between first and final year
students suggests that perceptions of service quality
elements change over a period of study, with ``acceptable
elements'' having increasing importance. Implications for
course management teams are discussed, and
suggestions for further research are made.
Electronic access
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85
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 8 .Number 2 .2000 .pp. 85±95
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0968-4883
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