Measuring university service quality by means of SERVQUAL method

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine university service quality in the International branch of Amirkabir University (Iran).Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a total of 102 students in five courses (Electronic engineering, Civil engineering, Mechanical engineering, Chemical engineering and MBA) in the international branch of Amirkabir University, were asked to complete a SERVQUAL questionnaire. This questionnaire measured students’ perceptions and expectations in five dimensions of service that consists of assurance, responsiveness, empathy, reliability and tangibles. The quality gap of university services was determined based on differences between students’ perceptions and expectations.FindingsThe results demonstrated that in all of the five SERVQUAL dimensions there was a negative quality gap (p<0.05). Also responsiveness is the most important dimension for the students but had the largest gap. So improvements are necessary and the university must pay more attention to the students’ requirements.Research limitations/implicationsThe current research was conducted among international branch of Amirkabir University, so the results are limited to those faculty, not to the whole of the university. Also, there were many questions in the questionnaire, which made the students tired and impatient.Originality/valueThere are limited researches that consider service quality in Iranian higher education. However, for the first time, the service quality of the international branch of Amirkabir University was measured in this research by SERVQUAL. Measuring education service via SERVQUAL in order to determine ways to improve quality is one of the major fields of application of the model. Continuous research in the field will benefit the welfare of the public society.