Quality gap of educational services in viewpoints of students in Hormozgan University of medical sciences

Teamur Aghamolaei,Shahram Zare

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-8-34

Abstract

BackgroundHigher education is growing fast and every day it becomes more and more exposed to globalization processes. The aim of this study was to determine the quality gap of educational services by using a modified SERVQUAL instrument among students in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out at Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences in 2007. In this study, a total of 300 students were selected randomly and asked to complete a questionnaire that was designed according to SERVQUAL methods. 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 educational services was determined based on differences between students' perceptions and expectations.ResultsThe results demonstrated that in each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions, there was a negative quality gap. The least and the most negative quality gap means were in the reliability (-0.71) and responsiveness (-1.14) dimensions respectively. Also, there were significant differences between perceptions and expectations of students in all of the five SERVQUAL dimensions (p < 0.001).ConclusionNegative quality gaps mean students' expectations exceed their perceptions. Thus, improvements are needed across all five dimensions.

Highlights

Higher education is growing fast and every day it becomes more and more exposed to globalization processes
The least and the most negative quality gap means were in the reliability and responsiveness dimensions respectively (Table 1)
The differences between negative quality gaps in each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions, except between assurance dimension and empathy and tangibles dimensions, were significant (p < 0.001). These dimensions, with regard to negative quality gaps, can be classified into three groups, so that the responsiveness dimension is placed in one group, the assurance, empathy and tangibles dimensions are placed in another group, and the reliability dimension is placed in a third group

Summary

Introduction

Higher education is growing fast and every day it becomes more and more exposed to globalization processes. The aim of this study was to determine the quality gap of educational services by using a modified SERVQUAL instrument among students in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences. Education is a service directly impacted on by the provider. Higher education institutions are placing greater emphasis on meeting students' expectations and needs. As universities continue to become more student oriented, student perceptions of higher educational facilities and services are becoming more important [1]. Educational services quality, emphasizing student satisfaction, is a newly emerging field of concern in the medical sciences universities of Iran. Most of the studies focused on either measuring teaching quality or evaluating students' learning experiences [3,4,5]

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Discussion

Conclusion