Mediating effect of hardiness in the nexus of service quality and students’ satisfaction of public universities in Ghana

Abstract

The education sector as a service industry, is increasingly recognising the importance of service quality, in their quest to heightened efforts to meet the ever-changing expectations of their students. The higher education landscape regards students as customers and therefore, gives them greater latitude in their demand for better academic programmes. This study assessed the impact of service quality perception on students’ satisfaction with educational services provided in public universities. The study further examined the mediating role of students’ academic hardiness in the relationship between service quality and students’ satisfaction with education services. A proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to select 1022 students from two public universities to respond to a survey questionnaire. The first research question was examined with descriptive statistics, specifically mean and standard deviation, percentages, and frequencies. However, the study hypotheses were all tested using a biased-corrected covariance-based structural equation modelling approach. The study revealed a high level of student satisfaction with education services provided in the public universities. The study also showed a significant positive impact of service quality perception on students’ satisfaction. Further, academic hardiness was found to have a positive indirect effect on students’ satisfaction through the quality of educational services provided by an institution. The finding that students’ satisfactions were affected by the quality of services provided by academic institutions implies that universities should strive to add to the quality of infrastructure and services to maintain students’ satisfaction, which has rippling effect on their learning and loyalty to the institution.