Service quality and student satisfaction in one Chinese university

Abstract

Nowadays, Chinese higher education is in a critical period of transitioning from elitism to popularization.Guided by the concepts of "student-centered" and "quality-oriented development", service quality and student satisfaction have become the important indicators for measuring the level of a university's education. Therefore, school administrators should adjust management strategies and service measures in a timely manner based on students' and social needs, improve student satisfaction and loyalty, and thereby enhance the competitiveness of the school. This is of great significance for promoting the reform and development of higher education in China.This research aimed to assess the service quality and student satisfaction in Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology (GDUPT). In this study, the SERVQUAL scale was used to measure the service quality which comprised five dimensions in terms of Tangibility, Trust, Responsibility, Security, and Empathy.Moreover, the student satisfaction in the areas of Collegiality, Program Schedule, Curriculum Content, Advising and Instruction was considered in the measurement. The quantitative research method was applied to gather data from 350 GDUPT students. Results provided an in-depth analysis of nine aspects of the service quality and student satisfaction. Specifically, in terms of service quality, the respondents generally agreed with the service quality in Tangibility, Trust, Responsibility, Security, and Empathy. Among those five indicators, five items got the weighted mean score between 3.50 -4.00 with strongly agree. Secondly, the respondents were all satisfied with Program Design/Schedule, Curriculum, Content, Advising and Instruction, while highly satisfied with Collegiality. Among those four indicators, two items got the weighted mean score lie in 3.50 -4.00 with highly satisfied. Moreover, there was a significant difference on service quality in terms of Security and a highly significant difference when students were grouped according to their grade level. As to student satisfaction, there was no significant difference when students were grouped according to their sex or grade level. In addition, there are highly significant positive correlations between service quality and student satisfaction across all areas studied. Finally, the researcher proposed a plan of action to improve the service quality and student satisfaction