The high student attrition at the masters' and doctorate levels requires universities to be customer-oriented, and flexible in their capacity to deliver higher value to mature students whose needs and expectations are high. Therefore, this study aims to assess student experience and service delivery levels that academic departments provide postgraduate students at public universities in KwaZulu-Natal. An empirical study was conducted amongst masters’ and doctorate students at a university of technology, a traditional university, and a comprehensive university. The study involved a survey questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale and included seven service delivery dimensions which respondents were to rank accordingly. Data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics and the factors that emerged from factor analysis were tested for reliability and validity by conducting Cronbach's alpha. The results show that postgraduate students are university customers and therefore expect courtesy and professionalism in the delivery of postgraduate programmes. The results further suggest that retention capabilities exist for the traditional university compared to the other types of universities. Students seem to be moderately satisfied with the quality of academic services offered by universities. Service delivery experience among students appears to vary across universities. Universities should take cognisance of the gaps and attempt to be more customer-oriented to ensure the needs and expectations of graduate students are met. The findings of the study may serve as guidelines for a follow-up qualitative study to establish the specific areas where students were not satisfied.
The complex application process at the postgraduate level became a major blamer for poor doctorate enrolments. The complexity in the communication messages made it difficult for prospective postgraduate students to absorb information effectively. The proposal by the government to increase masters' and doctorate enrolments at universities requires universities to cater to the needs of customers whose preferences and expectations change continuously. The research upon which this paper was based was aimed at identifying the information needs of prospective postgraduates at public universities. The study design is quantitative, employing a descriptive technique and cross-sectional method. For the empirical study, a non-probability sampling method was utilized to obtain data from a sample of 116 masters’ and doctorate students. Descriptive statistics described the main features of the collected data through frequencies, tables, and bar charts. Inferential statistics were used to determine relationships between variables and test the significance, and reliability of the findings. Emphasis on university processes and specific aspects of the expected and augmented product were found. Interestingly, the importance attached to getting information about economic incentives significantly outweighs the importance attached to receiving information about the actual product. The results of this study affirm the assertion that the postgraduate market is unique and has unique information needs. The results provide universities with a guideline to identify the information needs of prospective postgraduate students applying for master's and doctorate studies at public universities. The study limitation is that it encompasses only a small number of registered master’s and doctoral students in KwaZulu-Natal, limiting the possibility of generalizing the results to all prospective postgraduate students in South Africa.
Most higher education marketing theories have not explored student recruitment strategies for masters and doctorate qualifications, particularly in Africa. As a result, this study aims to explore student recruitment initiatives used by South African universities when recruiting students for masters and doctorate qualifications. A qualitative method of investigation was adopted to enable the researcher to judge the effectiveness of policies, practices or innovations in the recruitment of masters and doctorate students. Heterogeneous variation sampling was adopted to allow the researcher to compare university similarities and trends. Telephonic and face to face interviews were conducted to obtain information and opinions from research managers and marketing personnel regarding the recruitment of postgraduate students. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse qualitative data obtained during in-depth interviews. The findings indicate that university recruitment initiatives include individualised marketing and product differentiation. The availability of internal systems to encourage staff and current students to enrol for research degrees was also highlighted. University initiatives will ensure that suitable students are attracted to research masters and doctorate studies. With the university alumni, personnel and the internal students, the public universities can increase postgraduate enrolments.
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