Demographic Factors in the Evaluation of Students’ Satisfaction towards Quality in Higher Education: A Study of Government Colleges of Punjab (India)

Abstract

The Punjab education system has witnessed significant expansion in public higher education, both in terms of number of institutions as well as the students’ enrolment with 10 state universities and 48 government colleges. But higher education sector in Punjab still confronts various problems. The extent of various factors of higher educational institutions effectiveness depends on individual features such as demographic variables. This article investigates the difference in the satisfaction of students towards college effectiveness on the basis of demographic variables. The sample of the study comprised of 369 students from the various government colleges of Punjab, and the data was analysed using mean value, t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results showed that on the basis of gender significance, differences were found in the case of infrastructure facilities, extracurricular activities, financial administration and placement services of the colleges. In the case of level of education, bachelor’s students were most satisfied for infrastructure facilities, placement services, student support services and financial management of the colleges. On the basis of course stream, arts group and commerce group were significantly different on responding towards the academic environment. In the case of college administration, significant differences were found between commerce and science groups, and for extracurricular activities differences were found among arts, commerce and science groups. According to the location of the colleges, significant differences were found in extracurricular activities and financial administration of the colleges.