Performance-based service quality model in postgraduate education

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to promote and analytically verify an advanced assessment design to evaluate service quality (SQ) especially in postgraduate higher education.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopts a quantitative approach through a survey method. A structured questionnaire was designed as a means for collecting data. Data were collected from 182 postgraduate students in an Egyptian higher education university. Data were examined by exploratory factor analysis to pinpoint the main irregularities explained by the extracted factors. Then, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to filter the ratios and empirically test the assessment efficiency of the developed model.

Findings

The final model consists of 33 items loaded into eight dimensions for measuring performance-based SQ of the postgraduate higher education. The results are satisfactory in terms of unidimensionality, trustworthiness, and validity tests.

Research limitations/implications

Although the empirical results are significant, a comparative study can identify relative strengths and weaknesses of this model.

Practical implications

For improving postgraduate higher education institutions’ quality, this paper highlights some dimensions and attributes that should be considered.

Originality/value

The literature proposes that there is an opportunity to handle SQ from the point of view of postgraduate students covering different contexts to further build a more comprehensive structure specifically for postgraduate higher education SQ. This paper deals with this research gap with analytical confirmation within the context of postgraduate programs in an Egyptian university.

Citation

Khalaf, M.A. and Khourshed, N. (2017), "Performance-based service quality model in postgraduate education", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 34 No. 5, pp. 626-648. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-04-2015-0059