The Effects of Educational Service Quality and Socio-Cultural Adaptation Difficulties on International Students’ Higher Education Satisfaction

Abstract

The potential international university education market value is expressed in billions of dollars. Countries are trying to increase their competitiveness to attract international students and get a decent market share. Countries that can accurately analyze the factors affecting the country and school preferences of international students will be more advantageous in developing appropriate competitive strategies. The primary purpose of this study is to try to understand and explain the effects of the quality of university education service and socio-cultural adaptation difficulties factors on the satisfaction levels of international students. The research was carried out at Karabuk University, with the highest number of international students in Turkey. The data obtained through an online questionnaire using the convenience sampling method from 413 international students were analyzed with the “Structural Equation Model.” According to the analysis results, assurance and empathy from service quality dimensions, and cultural differences and religious belief variables from socio-cultural adaptation difficulties positively affect general student satisfaction. The research sample mostly consists of Syrian students who migrated to Turkey due to the war and bright students from low-income African, Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Turkish universities form attraction centers for international students flowing toward western countries. In this respect, the results of the research offer original contributions to the higher education literature.

The effect of quality culture on service quality of public and private Universities: A comparative analysis

“…In a recent study, researchers have argued that ISQ has the potential to influence service performance [76]. However, despite the importance of this dual perspective of SQ, only a few researchers have examined both aspects of services [59-63], while the emphasis of most of the literature is on the quality of service perceived by the external customer [20,[22][23][24][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. Given the involvement of multiple stakeholders, the debates on internal and external customers, and the guidance of previous researchers to measure SQ from a dual perspective, the following hypothesis is proposed: H2.…”

“…Researchers have equally emphasized two types of services and suggested combining the two when trying to measure SQ [46]. However, so far, most of the previous studies have examined SQ from the perspective of external customers [20,[22][23][24][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58], and only a few studies have examined both aspects of SQ at the same time [59][60][61][62][63]. Thus, there is an empirical gap in the existing literature.…”

Nilai-Nilai Kekerabatan Dalihan Na Tolu untuk Mengarahkan Meaning of Life Siswa Perantau Beretnis Batak Mandailing Muslim

“…Sebagai siswa perantau, tentunya memiliki perbedaan latar belakang lingkungan sosial-kultural sehingga secara langsung maupun tidak langsung dapat memengaruhi siswa sebagai subjek didik dan sekolah sebagai lembaga pendidikan. Akibatnya dari perbedaan lingkungan sosial-kultural siswa perlu adanya bantuan dalam perkembangan dan pendekatan khusus melalui layanan bimbingan dan konseling (Mareza, 2019;Ramakrishnan & Jalajakumari, 2013;Yılmaz & Temizkan, 2022), dapat dilakukan dengan memberikan orientasi siswa baru di awal semester atau ketika pindah untuk penyamaan persepsi dan bimbingan klasikal mengenai perilaku etis dengan memahami keragaman aturan atau patokan dalam berperilaku pada konteks budaya.…”

Customer satisfaction as a mediator of service facility and word of mouth in higher learning institutions

“…Customer satisfaction measures customers' expectations, feelings and needs (Pansari and Kumar, 2018). It also influences customer loyalty, price sensitivity and future buying behaviour (Yilmaz and Temizkan, 2022). In this study, we examined how customer satisfaction mediates service facility and WoM relationships in the service industry, specifically in HLIs.…”

“…Almost all aspects of today's economies are dictated by the service industry. The industry contributes significantly to the developed and developing economies through job creation, quality livelihoods, income, gross domestic product (GDP) and sustainable development (Yilmaz and Temizkan, 2022; Geeta and Sivanand, 2021; Magoti and Mtui, 2020; Wetengere, 2016). In Tanzania, for example, the service sector contributes 51.3% of the total GDP (BOT, 2019).…”