The assessment of service quality perception in higher education

Abstract

Increasing number of higher of education institutions in Turkey brings competition which also features the quality. Service quality in higher education is increasingly spotlighted in recent years. It is important that quality of all services provided by higher education institutions must be in a certain level and respond to the needs. Service quality, in effect, draws on total quality management and customer service as well as on marketing research. Fundamental to service quality is the belief that an organization exists to serve its customers. Perceptions of service quality often differ for individual customer. In the educational environment, one customer might appraise the situation a high-quality while another might find the same experience middling. The purpose of the research is to determine service quality perceptions of the students who graduated from the university in Turkey. This research was conducted with mixed methods approach. The HEdPERF scale which used to measure the service quality offered to students in higher education was used and semi-structured interview was conducted to collect data. While the perception of service quality does not indicate a significant difference by gender, it indicated significant differences according to faculties and establishment years of universities.