Assessing service quality in tertiary Education using adapted SERVQUAL scale

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate undergraduate students’ perceptions of the service quality at Madda Walabu University. An innovative sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed to comprehensively analyse students’ experiences. The quantitative analysis utilized the well-established and adapted SERVQUAL tool with a substantial sample of 409 students. The initial analysis revealed a negative gap score between students’ expectations and their actual perceptions of service quality, with all dimensions of service quality reflecting negative gap scores. This prompted further qualitative exploration with a smaller group of 14 students, and the qualitative data supplemented the quantitative findings, providing a holistic perspective. The study found a disparity between students’ expectations and their perceived scores across all dimensions of service quality, namely tangible (−1.13), reliability (−0.93), responsiveness (−0.46), assurance (−0.58), and empathy (−1.05). The qualitative data strengthened the understanding of the reasons behind the negative gap scores between students’ expectations and perceptions across all dimensions of service quality. Overall, the study definitively concluded that Madda Walabu University was not effectively meeting the needs of its students. There is an urgent necessity for the institution to provide services that align with customers’ expectations. This realization underscores a critical recommendation for the university: in order to enhance its image and attract competent students, it must prioritize customer satisfaction and diligently address the highlighted shortcomings.

Keywords:

• expectation
• Madda Walabu University
• perception
• SERVQUAL
• service quality

1. Introduction

The significance of service quality in the service industry has led to many scholars examining the qualities of services in different sectors, such as automobile repair service (Izogo & Ogba, 2015), the banking sector (Kayeser Fatima & Abdur Razzaque, 2014), hotels and guesthouses (Chen & Chen, 2014), healthcare (Endeshaw, 2021), and telephone conversations (Schoenenberg et al., 2014). SERVQUAL has been employed in business schools, banks, dry cleaners, and restaurants (Cronin & Taylor, 1992), among other institutions, to measure the quality of services delivered to customers. The validity of the SERVQUAL scale (Parasuraman et al., 1985) created to gauge service quality, has been one of the most contentious topics (Kunz et al., 2014). In the service quality literature, research has been conducted on the concepts of superiority in higher education (Teeroovengadum et al., 2016), quality service components (Magasi et al., 2022), quality of service, and customer satisfaction (Khoo et al., 2017).

The term service quality in higher education has been borrowed from business companies (Lennard, 2018). There is also a hot debate on whether universities resemble business organizations (Cantwell et al., 2021). Educational services come under the umbrella of services marketing (Sørensen & Rasmussen, 2013). Similar to businesses, universities have a revenue model, expenses, employees, budget constraints, and a need for effective management (Arif & Ilyas, 2013). Universities must attract and retain students, secure funding, maintain facilities, and invest in research and development much like a business (Halai, 2013). Therefore, universities aim to grow using the strategy derived from business organizations (Khoo et al., 2017).

Globalization has eased the process of pursuing education in different countries, making universities compete for a reduced pool of students (Kwek et al., 2010). Moreover, today’s students and employers have higher expectations from universities, which places pressure on these institutions to deliver quality education and career prospects. Finally, according to Delbanco (2015) and Giroux (2014), some scholars contend that higher education has turned into a commodity, with universities increasingly seen as businesses instead of educational institutions. All these factors contribute to the difficulty faced by higher education institutions today.

The research on service quality strongly emphasizes perceived quality, which is determined by contrasting consumers’ anticipations for service with their performance assessments (Zeithaml et al., 2018). In the past few years, the education system has placed a strong emphasis on how service quality is conceptualized, how it relates to satisfaction and profit constructs, and how to evaluate services (Kwok & Xie, 2020). The capacity to meet specific priorities is paramount, and customer satisfaction is frequently utilized to gauge service quality (Silva et al., 2017). It is crucial to evaluate the level of service offered in university education (Abdullah, 2006). Higher education must understand how crucial service upgrades are to gaining a competitive advantage. High-quality services increase client satisfaction, encourage business growth, and inspire referrals (Akhlaghi et al., 2012). Besides, satisfied clients contribute to revenue growth, market share, and investment return benefit (Boshoff, 2014; Gupta & Kaushik, 2018).

Madda Walabu University, one of Ethiopia’s state universities, was founded in 2006. The university is located in the Bale Zone’s Robe town, which is approximately 430 kilometres from Addis Ababa, the country’s capital. The university offers 46 undergraduate programs and 28 postgraduate programs. A historical location, Madda Walabu, can be found 227 km southwest of the zonal town of Bale Robe. The Oromo people have a long history with this location, which are the origin of the “gada” system and the cradle of Oromo culture. In addition, it is known for giving rise to several Oromo heroes.

Madda Walabu University has faced continuous strikes by students who have refused to enter classrooms. Additionally, complaints about various university services have been the primary impetus for conducting this study. As a professor at Madda Walabu University, the researcher had the opportunity to hear students’ complaints about the use of the library, the dorms, the café, the teachers’ desire to act as their fathers, and other issues. Furthermore, students expressed dissatisfaction with the university’s advising, exam scoring, and teaching and learning processes. As a result of hearing undergraduate students’ complaints, there is a need for reliable and scientific data to enhance student services at Madda Walabu University. Since the university is located in an emerging region, the tangible dimension of service quality may be weaker, but the university is expected to be more responsive and emphatic, as a local university faces fierce competition from similar sectors (Ozturk et al., 2018).

This study differs from previous research for at least two reasons. Firstly, previous research on quality services, whether in education institutions or other service organizations, has primarily been conducted in developed countries such as the United States of America (Joseph et al., 2005), Spain (Gallifa & Batallé, 2010), and the United Kingdom (Oldfield & Baron, 2000). However, developing nations have focused on service quality for banking (Muyeed, 2012), medical (Lee, 2006), and shopping mall services (Diallo et al., 2018). Especially, the studies on service quality in higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa are scanty.

Secondly, the limited research on providing service quality in higher education institutions in developing countries mainly emphasized private universities (Tan et al., 2021). Various scholars have conducted studies on private university service provision because of the high competition among private universities in terms of attracting students, gaining positive word-of-mouth from their customers, and thus increasing tuition fees (Raza et al., 2021). Hence, this study emphasizes the extent to which Madda Walabu University (a public university) offers quality services to its students. The study focuses on the service quality of administrative units rather than academic issues such as teaching, course content, or the curriculum. This study adds to the literature concerning higher education institutions’ quality service delivery to their students in developing nations. Moreover, the study provides a spotlight for the university’s leaders to review their practices in providing quality service to customers. In different stages, the following two specific research questions were raised to achieve the objective of the study:

1. What is the gap between students’ expectations and perceptions of service quality dimensions such as tangible, responsiveness, reliability, assurance, and empathy at Madda Walabu University?

2. Why is there such a negative gap between students’ expectations and perceptions in all dimensions?

2. Literature review

In today’s dynamic world, various scholars have widely used and defined the term “service.” According to Boshoff (2014), service is defined as an element of the broader notion of manufactured goods and is limited to deeds, acts, and efforts. Similarly, Lovelock and Wirtz (2007) state that service is time-bound and that a service outcome may result in a change desired by the consumer. Furthermore, Zeithaml et al. (2018) argue that service is offered for the benefit of another organization and the service-rendering organization. The definitions stated above have highlighted various characteristics of service. It is fair to infer from the discussions that service is time-bound and intangible. Additionally, service has non-returnability, perceptional dependence, and need-match uncertainty. Current studies describe services with heterogeneity, intangibility, and inseparability (Boshoff, 2014).

Parasuraman et al. (1988) defined service quality as “a form of attitude, related but not equivalent to satisfaction, and resulting from the comparison of expectations with perceptions of performance” (p. 15). O’Neill and Palmer (2004, p. 42) borrowed this concept from business and defined service quality in tertiary education as “the difference between what students expect to receive and their perceptions of actual delivery.” Scholars (Boshoff, 2014; Dwaikat, 2020) have widely utilized this concept to evaluate the quality of service provision in higher education institutions. It is crucial to understand the meaning of customer expectations and perceptions from these definitions of service quality.

Customer expectation refers to the perception of service that serves as the standard against which service performance is evaluated (Caruana et al., 2000; Zeithaml et al., 2018). The overall perception of service quality reflects the degree to which performance meets or exceeds customer expectations of quality as a yardstick. Thus, service quality is defined as the difference between customers’ expectations of service quality and their perceived performance (Paraskevas, 2021). The customer’s philosophy regarding the customer experience, service, and service promises are the primary determinants of customer expectations (Zeithaml et al., 2018). In contrast, customer expectations impede the customer’s evaluation of service performance. However, customer expectations do not serve as the yardstick influencing service quality (Gyan, 2018). This concept is relevant to current perspectives on service quality and is a frequent misinterpretation.

3. Service quality in tertiary education institutions

Given that higher education institutions (HEIs) often face financial constraints, they are expected to adapt to continuous changes in their large and small-scale environments (Camilleri, 2019). Therefore, they compete in a global market for revenue and student enrolment (Tian & Martin, 2014). HEIs typically adopt an economic perspective when creating their marketing strategies, setting resource management goals, and shifting their focus to meet the needs of their clients (Lynch, 2015). These management changes aim to improve the productivity and service standards of HEIs (Mourad et al., 2011; Rutter et al., 2016).

Leadership at higher education institutions faces difficulty in determining the service requirements of their customers, including students. According to Quinn et al. (2009), the alleged quality of service provided to the customer is determined by the extent and pattern of disagreement within their perceptions and expectations. Expectations are viewed as the requirements or desires of clients as a component of conception (Zeithaml et al., 2018). Parasuraman et al. (1988) evaluated people’s opinions and expectations of the quality of service, using their SERVQUAL measures that assessed the tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy of services (Brochado, 2009; Tan & Kek, 2004).

Similarly, other authors have noted that the service quality is affected by three key components: the process of service, relational variables, and tangible evidence (Angell et al., 2008; Tsinidou et al., 2010). However, Wilkins and Balakrishnan (2013) found that the tangible proof associated with the HEIs’ physical presence can also influence the degree of student satisfaction.

4. The importance of institutional response and service quality in meeting higher education demands

In their 2016 study, Tarí and Dick observed that educational institutions are facing mounting pressure and expectations from their clients and higher education stakeholders to bridge the gap between expected and actual institutional performance. The response of institutions to student choices and behaviour will be a key factor in meeting these demands, except in the case of the most elite institutions (Khoo et al., 2017). As competition among institutions intensifies, there is a need for continuous improvement in the student experience, and complacency must be avoided (Cardona & Bravo, 2012).

According to Chih et al. (2012), a student’s satisfaction has a significant impact on their decision to remain enrolled at a college and their likelihood to recommend it to others. Therefore, higher education institutions should evaluate their service quality to increase retention rates. Aghamolaei and Zare (2008) also assessed service quality in a university using the SERVQUAL framework and found that students had lower perceptions of service quality than their expectations.

5. Materials and method

5.1. Research design

This study employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design. Initially, the researcher collected quantitative data using the adapted SERVQUAL tool. After analysing the data, they found a negative gap between students’ expectations and perception scores. Since the institution is located in an emerging region, tangible issues might have a negative gap score because of lack of facilities, but the university could fulfil responsiveness, reliability, assurance, and empathy dimensions (Ozturk et al., 2018). However, the students were unsatisfied with all service quality dimensions, and the negative gap score prompted the researcher to engage in the second phase of qualitative data collection and analysis. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods strategy is justified because the quantitative data and subsequent analysis provide a broad grasp of service quality at Madda Walabu University, while the qualitative data and analysis clarify and explain the statistical results by delving deeper into the participants’ perspectives on service quality (Creswell, 2012). Besides, this research design allows researcher to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the service quality in Madda Walabu University as it involves both quantitative and qualitative data, which helps in the triangulation of the results (Creswell, 2012).

5.2. Samples and sampling methods

Three colleges, namely the Colleges of Education and Behavioural Studies, Natural and Computational Science, and Social Sciences and Humanities, offer undergraduate summer education. As a result, census techniques were used to incorporate these colleges into the study. In 2018, a total of 5137 undergraduate students attended summer education in these colleges. To ensure selection of an accurate sample, the study utilized the sample determination formula developed by Yamane (1967), which is as follows:

$n=\frac{N}{1+N{(e)}^2}$

Where: n= sample size required N = number of people in the population e = allowable error (%)

By employing the formula, 372 students were selected by the researcher as respondents. To improve response rates, 10% of the samples were included (Johnson & Christensen, 2008). Then, proportional sampling technique was applied as the number of students in each college varied. For example, the Colleges of Education and Behavioural Science, Natural and Computational Science, and Social Science and Humanities had 350, 4,187, and 600 students respectively. According to proportional sampling, 28, 333, and 48 sample students were selected from the Colleges of Education and Behavioural Studies, Natural and Computational Science, and Social Science and Humanities respectively. Hence, the study selected 409 undergraduate summer students to respond to the survey questionnaire.

After analysing quantitative data and discovering a negative gap between students’ perceptions and expectations, the researcher was motivated to return to the field to investigate the reasons for such gaps. For this purpose, 14 students were selected, two from each of the seven departments (educational planning and management, chemistry, biology, physics, geography, history, and physical education). These students were class coordinators for their respective departments and were well-informed about the services provided by the university as they acted as students’ representatives for claiming services. Therefore, they had good knowledge about the services delivered by the university.

5.3. Instruments

Various instruments have been developed to measure the quality of services delivered to customers. However, the researcher presented an overview of SERVQUAL scale since it is widely applied scales to measure the quality of services (Gilmore & McMullan, 2009).

5.3.1. SERVQUAL

Parasuraman et al. (1985) developed the SERVQUAL tool to measure the quality of services. Various scholars have used SERVQUAL instruments, which researchers argue is an effective tool to assess the quality of services offered in higher education institutions (Lennard, 2018). The SERVQUAL tool contains two parts: the initial part measures the customer’s expectations, and the second part assesses the customer’s perception of service delivery. Each part of the questionnaire contains 22 similarly worded statements (Parasuraman et al., 1988).

In the original questionnaire, a Likert scale composed of seven points ranging from “strongly agree” (7) to “strongly disagree” (1) is proposed. Then, the responses to the perceptions and expectations are compared. The positive score expresses the areas of strength and modest advantages of a given organization. As to the instrument developer, if the perception response is less than the expected response, the score will be negative; otherwise, it will be positive.

The SERVQUAL developer tested the modified version in banking, credit cards, and product repair and maintenance. The reliability of the scores found in these different sectors was 0.9 (Parasuraman et al., 1988).While measuring consistency in different sectors, the authors found that “reliability” was the main critical dimension influencing customer satisfaction, followed by “assurance.” Conversely, “empathy” and “responsiveness” are the least essential dimensions of the sectors selected. As every service quality tool has limitations, SERVQUAL also has limitations of forgetting uncontrollable factors that influence the quality of service (Brady et al., 2002) and its dimensions are context-specific rather than global (Brady & Cronin, 2001).

The current study employed the SERVQUAL scale for the following compelling reasons. First, the SERVQUAL model is the most commonly applied scale in different service sectors (Asim & Kumar, 2018) and dominant in the context of higher education to measure service quality (Gupta & Kaushik, 2018). Second, various scholars (Akhlaghi et al., 2012; Chopra et al., 2014; Chui et al., 2016; Magasi et al., 2022; Teeroovengadum et al., 2016; Yeo, 2008; Yousapronpaiboon, 2014) across the world used the SERVQUAL scale to measure the level of services provided to students at higher education institutions.

Concerning the adaptability of the SERVQUAL scale in the context of higher education institutions, the researcher used Yousapronpaiboon’s (2014) adapted scale composed of 21 items based on the suggestion of Brady and Cronin (2001). The authors recommend modifying the SERVQUAL model items based on the context and service type being evaluated to enhance validity and reliability. According to Parasuraman et al. (1988), the description of service quality dimensions is as follows (See Table 1).

Table 1. The SERVQUAL scale dimensions descriptions

Dimension	Description
Tangibles	The appearance of the personnel, equipment, and physical facilities
Reliability	The ability to perform the desired service dependability, accurately, and consistently
Responsiveness	The willingness to provide prompt service and help customers
Assurance	Employee courtesy, knowledge, and ability to convey trust and confidence
Empathy	The delivery of caring and individualized attention to clients

Source: Parasuraman et al. (1988).

The researcher conducted a pilot test on the five dimensions of service quality prior to the utilization of the adapted scale by Yousapronpaiboon (2014) for the actual study. Consequently, a total of 100 summer students participated in the pilot study through availability sampling technique, and the reliability of the instruments was calculated by Cronbach alpha. The reliability statistics for each dimension are presented as follows, and each dimension’s reliability yields results greater than 0.70. According to Rohwer (2010), the reliability coefficients with scores of 0.70 and above are generally deemed acceptable (See Table 2).

Table 2. The reliability statistics of SERVQUAL Dimensions

No	SERVQUAL Dimensions	Items	Reliability Statistics
1	Tangibility	5	0.703
2	Reliability	5	0.760
3	Responsiveness	3	0.884
4	Assurance	4	0.787
5	Empathy	4	0.892

Regarding access to the research site, the researcher wrote a letter of cooperation to the academic vice president of Madda Walabu University, requesting a recognition letter to be written for the three colleges. The vice president subsequently wrote a letter of cooperation to the three colleges. The researcher then met with the deans of the colleges to draft cooperation letters for the respective departments. After meeting with each department head, the researcher requested that they identify an instructor from their department who is cooperative, committed, and friendly with the students to facilitate the data collection process. Finally, the assigned instructors facilitated the collection of data.

5.4. Methods of data analysis

In this study, the researcher collected data sequentially. Initially, quantitative data was collected and analysed quantitatively, and negative gaps were found between students’ expectations and perceptions in all five service dimensions. The gaps in all dimensions encouraged the researcher to collect qualitative data through an interview to determine why they occurred. The responses were collected using an adapted SERVQUAL tool, and the researcher coded, cleaned, and fed them into SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences) version 20. Background information of the respondents was analysed using frequency and percentage. Conversely, the difference between students’ perceptions and expectations, measured on a five-point Likert scale alternating from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1), was analysed using mean, overall mean, and standard deviations.

For qualitative data analysis, the researcher used NVivo 8 and followed the six-step analytical method recommended by Braun and Clarke (2006). The data was translated into English by two English-language experts using a hard copy of the Amharic transcription. The transcriptions were then imported into the NVivo program, where 10 themes were found, and themes and sub-themes started to form. During the polishing process, five key themes emerged: the tangible, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and assurance. Specific quotes from the participants complemented quantitative findings in the form of narration.

6. Results

6.1. Demographic characteristics of the respondents

The researcher distributed 409 questionnaires and collected 367 correctly filled questionnaires, resulting in an 89.7% response rate. Concerning the gender of the participants, 261 (71.1%) were male, and the remaining 106 (28.9%) were female, which implies that the gender parity index is large at Madda Walabu University. According to the Ministry of Education (2015), the number of female students in Ethiopian higher education institutions is lower than that of their male counterparts. Regarding the age of the respondents, 335 (91.3%) were between 20 and 40 years old, and the remaining 32 (8.7%) were between 41 and 50 years old. Most of the respondents were young and in need of quality services from their institutions. Concerning the respondents’ experience, 257 (70%) had served 1–10 years, whereas 110 (30%) had served 11 years or more. Regarding the respondents’ education, 102 (27.8%) were diploma holders, whereas the remaining 265 (72.2%) were first-degree holders.

6.2. Students’ expectations and perceptions

As shown in Table 3, there are five sub-dimensions in the tangible dimension. In this dimension, an excellent university has modern and up-to-date equipment with a mean of 4.79 and a standard deviation (SD) of 0.684, convenient operating hours with a mean of 4.62 and a standard deviation of 0.673, and is followed by an excellent university with well-dressed staff and a high score with a mean of 4.38 and an SD of 0.645 in students’ expectation scores. Conversely, on the perception score, Madda Walabu University has a high score of well-dressed and neat staff in their appearance with a mean of 4.17 and an SD of 0.761. The rest of the sub-dimensions have a mean score ranging from 3.00 to 3.51. Overall, the student perception scores were lower than the student expectation scores on all five items.

Table 3. Results of students’ expectations and their perceptions and gap analysis on SERVQUAL dimensions

Service Quality Dimensions	Students’ Expectation		Students’ Perception		GAP (MP-ME)
Tangibles	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Modern and up-to-date equipment	4.79	.684	3.00	.788	−1.79
Visual appeal of physical facilities	4.27	.650	3.05	.765	−1.22
Well and neatly dressed staff	4.38	.645	4.17	.761	−0.21
Visual appeal of materials	4.32	.666	3.11	.846	−1.21
Convenient operating hours	4.62	.782	3.51	.673	−1.11
Overall mean	4.48		3.37		−1.11
Reliability	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	GAP (MP-ME)
Providing services as promised	4.11	.674	3.99	.794	−0.12
Sincere interest of personnel in solving problems	4.26	.704	3.57	.816	−0.69
Carrying out of the services right at the first time	4.28	.680	3.15	.774	−1.13
Providing services at the appointed time	4.85	.685	3.17	.753	−1.68
Telling when services will be performed	4.23	.685	3.22	.760	−1.01
Overall mean	4.35		3.42		−0.93
Responsiveness	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	GAP (MP-ME)
Staff give prompt service to students	4.13	.672	4.11	.674	−0.02
Staff is always there to help students	4.25	.674	3.07	.796	−1.18
Staff respond promptly to queries	4.19	.770	4.02	.736	−0.17
Overall mean	4.19		3.73		−0.46
Assurance	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	GAP (MP-ME)
Students feel safe while receiving services	4.08	.730	3.12	.678	−0.96
Students trust the teaching staff	4.26	.700	3.13	.744	−1.13
Staff are courteous with students	4.22	.708	4.05	.712	−0.17
Professors know to answer students’ questions	4.16	.699	4.10	.732	−0.06
Overall mean	4.18		3.6		−0.58
Empathy	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	GAP (MP-ME)
University gives individual attention	4.05	.651	3.03	.698	−1.02
Dealt with a caring fashion	4.24	.653	3.09	.773	−1.15
Staff keep students’ interest at heart	4.21	.722	3.10	.743	−1.11
Understanding the specific needs of students	4.00	.696	3.11	.776	−0.89
Overall mean	4.13		3.08		−1.05

Key: MP: Mean Perception; ME: Mean Expectation

Source: Yousapronpaiboon (2014, p. 1093)

In the tangible dimension, the university has modern and up-to-date equipment, but had the lowest score (−1.79) in this category. As a result, the researcher interviewed 14 students who were recruited from the university to determine the availability of physical facilities and equipment necessary to provide the expected services to customers. All the interviewees argued that their respective colleges and departments lacked the necessary facilities and equipment. For instance, one of the students stated,

There is a shortage of facilities and equipment at the university. Upon visiting the library, there are insufficient books, chairs, tables, and other necessary items. Similarly, the student services near the café lack water and proper sanitation.

Similarly, another student argues that “most classrooms do not have the latest equipment such as internet services and computer labs. Moreover, several classrooms have broken doors and windows, and there is a shortage of tables and chairs. Additionally, numerous classrooms lack proper lighting.”

According to students’ expectations for scores on the reliability dimension, an excellent university provides services at the appointed time (M = 4.85, SD = 0.685), carries out services correctly on the first try (M = 4.28, SD = 0.680), and displays a sincere interest in solving students’ problems (M = 4.26, SD = 0.704), all of which receive high scores in this dimension. Comparing the perception scores of students on reliability sub-dimensions, Madda Walabu University delivers services as promised (M = 3.99, SD = 0.794), and the personnel show a sincere interest in solving students’ problems (M = 3.57, SD = 0.816), which are relatively high scores. Overall, the student perception scores are lower than the student expectation scores on all five items. In the reliability dimension, the highest gap score (−1.68) pertains to the university’s provision of services at the appointed time, and the researcher asked students if there were any issues with complying with the university’s schedule. Most respondents have expressed complaints about this problem. One of the students has commented on this issue,

Some of the instructors do not follow the schedule, as they finish their classes and administer exams to their students before the pre-planned date. As a result, we face a shortage of time to study and comprehend the course materials.

The responsive dimension consists of three sub-dimensions. Excellent universities have staff who are always available to help students (mean = 4.25, standard deviation = 0.674), staff who respond promptly to students’ queries (mean = 4.19, standard deviation = 0.770), and staff who provide prompt service to students (mean = 4.13, standard deviation = 0.672), all with high scores based on students’ expectations. However, when comparing students’ perception scores, Madda Walabu University staff provide prompt service to students (mean = 4.11, standard deviation = 0.674), and Madda Walabu University staff respond promptly to students’ queries (mean = 4.02, standard deviation = 0.736), both with high scores. Overall, student perception scores were lower than student expectation scores, with teachers’ willingness to help students being identified as the highest gap score (−1.18) in this dimension. The researcher interviewed key informants to learn about teachers’ willingness to help students when they have problems, and most interviewees agreed that there is a lack of willingness on the part of teachers to work with their students. One student, in particular, made the following comment:

University instructors are expected to support their students by offering tutorial classes. However, instead of providing tutorial classes, some instructors rush to finish six chapters within two hours. Such a pace to complete the course has negatively influenced our results.

All interviewees have a similar consensus regarding the prevalence of the responsiveness problem. They argue that some administrative staff is careless in providing their customers with quality service. Furthermore, they claimed that some of the staff lacks the motivation to offer services to their customers. For instance, one of the interviewees contends,

The university has a problem with responsiveness, as some secretaries and administrative staff are unavailable or not focused on their principal duties. For example, if the department head is unavailable, secretaries also become unavailable. Some administrative staff prioritizes watching films, playing games, or chatting on Facebook over their work.

As shown in Table 3, the assurance dimension has four sub-dimensions. According to the students’ expectation scores, in an excellent university, students trust the teaching staff (M = 4.26 and SD = 0.700), the staff is courteous to students (M = 4.22 and SD = 0.708), and professors have the knowledge to answer students’ queries (M = 4.16 and SD = 0.699) and have high scores in the dimension. Conversely, at Madda Walabu University, professors have the knowledge to answer students’ queries (M = 4.10 and SD = 0.732), and staff are courteous to students (M = 4.05 and SD = 0.712) and have high scores as perceived by students. Overall, the student perception scores were lower than the student expectation scores. Students have shown that they cannot trust their professors and scored with the highest gap score (−1.13) in the dimension.

The researcher interviewed key informants to find out why they did not trust their professors. The students mentioned several reasons for their lack of trust in their teachers. One informant argued that “most instructors give promises, but fail to keep them.” For instance, many instructors pledge not to award grades of “C” and below to students, but these promises are not realistic. Others raised concerns about transparency. One interviewee stated that “teachers ought to reveal midterm and final exams, but several teachers are unwilling to do this. As a result, the reliability of the grades is frequently in doubt.”

The empathy dimension is composed of four sub-dimensions. Based on the students’ expectation scores, excellent universities scored highly in the sub-dimensions of caring for students (mean = 4.24, SD = 0.653) and keeping students’ interests at heart (mean = 4.21, SD = 0.722). On the other hand, Madda Walabu University received the highest score from students in the sub-dimension of understanding their specific needs (mean = 3.11, SD = 0.776). Overall, the students’ perception scores were lower compared to their expectation scores.

The item that staff dealt with in a caring fashion in the empathy dimension received the highest gap score (−1.15) from the students. The researcher conducted interviews with key informants to gain insight into their experiences with the empathy dimension. While most students agreed with the prevailing empathy issues, two students held a differing opinion. Upon interviewing these key informants, it was observed that the university cannot offer personalized attention to each student. However, the majority of key informants argued that the university provides equal services to all individuals.

7. Discussions and conclusion

This study aimed to assess the level of student satisfaction with higher education services, utilizing the SERVQUAL tool to evaluate service quality dimensions such as reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. The results revealed that the tangibles dimension obtained the highest expectations score of 4.48. This finding is consistent with Magasi et al. (2022) research, which examined the quality of services in a Tanzanian tertiary education setting involving 326 students, and also identified the tangibles dimension as having the highest gap score of −0.57.

Furthermore, our study also found that the tangible dimension had the highest gap score of −1.11, which is in line with previous studies. For instance, Yousapronpaiboon (2014) conducted research on service quality in Thailand’s private universities, involving 350 undergraduate students, and discovered that the tangible dimension had the highest gap score of −2.88. Likewise, Akhlaghi et al. (2012) examined the education service quality in Ahvaz technical and vocational colleges for girls, and reported that the tangible dimension had the highest gap score of −2.8. Therefore, it becomes evident that students’ expectations regarding the appearance of staff, equipment, and physical facilities differ from their perceptions of the tangible dimension.

Conversely, the dimension of responsiveness received the highest perception scores. In this study, the empathy dimension received the lowest scores in both expectation and perception, which is consistent with the findings of Yousapronpaiboon (2014). These low scores in both expectation and perception towards the empathy dimension suggest there is a weak link between instructors, employees, and staff regarding the improvement of interactions between employees and learners.

According to the gap analysis, students’ perception of service quality is inferior to their expectations in the service quality dimension; the most significant discrepancy in perceptions and expectations is linked to the empathy dimension. This study found that the empathy dimension has the lowest expectation score of 4.13 and the same dimension has the lowest perception score of 3.08. This finding corresponds with Yousapronpaiboon’s (2014) findings, where the author found that the empathy dimension had the lowest expectation score of 6.79 and the same dimension had the lowest perception score of 4.32. The lowest perception and expectation scores of the empathy component suggest that there is a need for improvement in the interactions between students, teachers, employees, and staff members. Conversely, the responsive dimension has the lowest gap score of any dimension.

For all dimensions, the aggregate service quality deficit mean was −0.80. Students rated negative gap scores for all items in service quality dimensions. This finding resonates with the findings of Magasi et al. (2022) and Chui et al. (2016), where they all found that all service quality dimensions had negative gap scores. According to Parasuraman et al. (1988), the negative gaps indicate the necessity of improving lateral and vertical dialogue, increasing client awareness, efficient leadership dedication, teamwork, action planning, and work uniformity. Accordingly, the institutions have a significant opportunity to strengthen their operations and services.

Based on the discussions above, the study concluded that the study conducted at Madda Walabu University found that undergraduate students perceived all service quality dimensions (Tangible, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy) to have negative scores. This implies that the students felt that the service quality at the university was generally poor.

8. Implication for Educational administration

The study highlighted that the empathy dimension received the lowest scores in both expectation and perception. This suggests a weak link between instructors, employees, and staff in terms of fostering interactions and relationships with students. Educational administrators should focus on enhancing the behaviour and interaction between students, teachers, employees, and staff members. This can be achieved through professional development programs, training sessions, and initiatives that promote a culture of empathy, understanding, and effective communication within the university.

The study revealed a negative gap in service quality dimensions, indicating a deficit in students’ perception of university services compared to expectations. Educational administrators must implement comprehensive measures to bridge this gap, such as promoting dialogue, raising client awareness, implementing leadership strategies, fostering teamwork, developing action plans, and ensuring uniformity. This will improve service quality, student satisfaction, and create a positive learning environment at Madda Walabu University.

9. Implication for theory and research practice

This study reinforces previous findings that students prioritize tangible aspects of higher education such as appearance and facilities over interpersonal interactions. Negative gap scores indicate areas of improvement for communication, leadership, and teamwork to better meet student demands and satisfaction levels. Higher education institutions can use these insights to enhance their operations and services.

10. Limitations and directions for future research

Every social science research project has an inherent limitation. This study has the following limitation: First, this research focused on a single university, and the study’s findings might not be considered for external validation. Hence, future research on students’ expectations and perceptions of service quality involving respondents from two or more universities is required.

Declaration of conflicting interest

The author reports there is no competing interest to declare.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aklilu Alemu

Aklilu Alemu is an assistant professor of education policy and leadership at Madda Walabu University in the College of Education and Behavioral Studies, specifically in the Department of Educational Planning and Management. Dr. Aklilu obtained all his diplomas and degrees in educational planning, leadership, policy, and management from Addis Ababa University. He has prior experience in teaching and managing primary schools, as well as leading the educational programs team at a district education office. Currently, at Madda Walabu University, Dr. Aklilu is involved in teaching and supervising undergraduate and graduate students, coordinating and facilitating research work within the college, and conducting his own research. He has presented his research findings at more than 18 national and international conferences. Additionally, he has published four articles in journals such as Educational Planning, Emerald Open Research, and Social Science and Humanities Open Journals. He has also authored a book, and has two articles accepted for publication. Recently, he delivered a speech on the Ethiopian KG-12 education system for PhD students at Kennesaw State University in the USA, where they are pursuing their education. Furthermore, Dr. Aklilu was awarded the HRAF Global Scholar Program in 2023 and was featured at Yale University.