International postgraduate students’ perceptions of service quality

Abstract

South African universities have embraced a drive to internationalize in view of globalization. One of the widely adopted measures towards internationalization has been the recruitment of international postgraduate scholars. The rationale is to draw diverse knowledge and expertise from the international students. However, the University of KwaZulu Natal’s Westville campus has not managed to attract a significant number of international scholars. The trend suggests that the university is unable to meet the expectations of international postgraduate students with regards to service delivery. The suggestion is premised on the argument that the previous and current international postgraduate students have not been satisfied with the service quality to stimulate other foreign postgraduate student enrolments through positive word of mouth. The main objective of the study was to confirm the assertions while exposing the gaps between their expectations and perceptions of service delivery at the university. The SERVQUAL model was used to guide the assessment of service quality among the research participants. The study adopted quantitative methodologies and data was drawn from international postgraduate students who were enrolled at the institution during the academic year 2016. The findings revealed that the international postgraduate students were dissatisfied with the levels of service at the university. Specifically, the study exposed gaps across all the five dimensions of service quality, namely reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. It was concluded that the management at the university should institute deliberate measures to improve service quality, especially towards international postgraduate students.

Understanding Postgraduate Student Preferences for University Choice in Zambia: The Case of ZCAS University

“…In the postgraduate studies market, institutions can further get competitive advantage from employability of graduates (which is a reflection of the quality of the institutions' programmes), local and international recognition or rankings, consistency of service delivery through proper leveraging of integrated management systems such as ERP which can improve cost management, and resource efficiency of administrative procedures (Soliman & Karia, 2017). Other researchers further assert that effective relationship management for both recruiting and retaining students is another potential source of competitive advantage in the market for postgraduate studies (Chaguluka, Beharry-Ramraj, & Amolo, 2018). Although the findings in the preceding studies relate to postgraduate students, their contexts are different to Zambia.…”

Expectativa e percepção da qualidade dos serviços de uma universidade pública: uma análise à luz da Toria da Dissonância Cognitiva

“…Parasuraman, Zeithaml e Berry, (1985) descreveram as expectativas do cliente como padrões ou pontos de referência que os clientes associam a experiência de um serviço. As expectativas são amplamente afetadas pela comunicação boca a boca de clientes anteriores e as comunicações externas que os prestadores de serviços transmitem aos clientes-alvo sobre os benefícios do serviço (Chaguluka et al, 2018). As percepções, por outro lado, são descritas como o julgamento dos usuários do serviço quanto ao desempenho de um serviço experimentado (Makoe & Nsamba, 2019).…”

Understanding Tertiary International Students’ Psychological Well-Being

“…This impacts students personally and professionally and has a strong financial impact on higher education institutions and the overall revenue generated by the education sector (OECD, 2018). Additionally, students with negative experiences might share their experiences with their peers, influencing their decision to go to the same institution which impacts the reputation of that institution (Chaguluka et al, 2018). Thus, tertiary institutions should primarily consider the psychological well-being of students (Saucedo et al, 2020).…”

“…However, there is very limited research on understanding the role of institutions impacting students' PBW. Chaguluka et al (2018) conducted a quantitative study in a South African university to measure the quality of services provided at the institution. They reported that overall, students were dissatisfied with the quality of services provided at their institution and there was a gap between their expectations and the reality of the services.…”

“…Roberts et al (2015) also emphasised that support services should focus on students and their needs Chaguluka et al (2018). highlighted parameters that are important while deciding the quality of services, namely, how reliable they are in terms of timely response, how responsive they are to students' needs, how assuring they are in terms of delivering services confidently and winning students' trust, how much they empathise (i.e.…”