Investigating attributes of international students’ satisfaction in private universities in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

Authors

  • Cheok Mui Yee Graduate School of Business, UNIRAZAK
  • Benjamin Chan Yan Fah Graduate School of Business, UNIRAZAK

Keywords:

private universities, service quality, students’ satisfaction

Abstract

The government of Malaysia has spent a substantial effort to attract international students to pursue their tertiary education in Malaysia. As such, there is a need to ensure that students are satisfied with the quality of services provided by universities in areas of physical facilities or even customer service, for instance. However, there has been insufficient evidence that examined the dimension of service quality and international students’ satisfaction in the context of the education industry, as past researchers focused this area of research mostly in the commercial sectors. Hence, this study investigated the influence of the dimension of service quality on international students’ satisfaction in private universities in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. A total of 376 survey questionnaires were collected from major private universities located in Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur using the random sampling approach. After analyzing the data using statistical software, the empirical result showed that reliability of service, assurance of service, staff’s responsiveness, staff’s empathy as well as tangibility of universities influenced the satisfaction of service provided to international students. By integrating these attributes into students’ studying experience, t private educators would be able to further improve the enrolment of international students into Malaysian private universities.

References

Akbaba, A., Kılınç, I., (2001). Servqual practices in service quality and tourism management. J. Tour.

Res. 12 (2), 162–168.

Aljeraiwi, A., Sawaftah, W. (2018). The quality of blended learning based on the use of blackboard in teaching physics at King Saud University: students’ perceptions. Journal of Educational & Psycho- logical Sciences, 19(2), 616–646.

Bakalar, B. (2018). Book Review: Justice on both sides: Transforming education through restorative justice. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 2(2), 145-149.

Borishade, T. T., Ogunnaike, O. O., Salau, O., Motilewa, B. D., & Dirisu, J. I. (2021). Assessing the relationship among service quality, student satisfaction and loyalty: the NIGERIAN higher education experience. Heliyon, e07590.

Cronin Jr., J.J., Brady, M.K., Hult, G.T.M., (2000). Assessing the effects of quality, value and customer satisfaction on consumer behavioural intentions in service environments. J. Indust. Manag. 2 (2), 5–19.

Curtis, T., Abratt, R., Minor, W., (2009). Corporate brand management in higher education: the case of ERAU. J. Prod. Brand Manag. 18 (6), 404–413.

De Jager, J., Gbadamosi, G., (2013). Predicting students’ satisfaction through service quality in higher education. Int. J. Manag. Educ. 11 (3), 107–118.

Fındık-Coşkunçay, D., Alkış, N., O{zkan-Yıldırım, S. (2018). A structural model for students’ adoption of learning management systems: An empirical investigation in the higher education context. Educational Technology & Society, 21(2), 13–27.

Fortune M, Spielman M and Pangelinan D (2011) Students’ perceptions of online or face-to- face learning and social media in hospitality, recreation and tourism Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 7(1) pp 1-16.

Kaur, H., & Bhalla, G. (2018). Determinants of effectiveness in public higher education-students’ viewpoint. International Journal of Educational Management, 32(6), 1135-1155.

Korka, M., (2009). Educatie de calitate pentru piata muncii. Editura Universitara Bucuresti, p. 17.

McIsaac, M. S., & Gunawardena, C. N. (1996). Distance education. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research for educational communications and technology (pp. 403-437). New York: Macmillan.

Moawad, R. (2020). “Online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and academic stress in university students”. Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala, 12(1Sup2), 100– 107.

Oldfield, B.M., Baron, S., (2000). Student perceptions of service quality in a UK university business and management faculty. Qual. Assur. Educ. 8 (2), 85–95.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L., (1988). SERVQUAL: a multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. J. Retailing 64 (1), 12–40.

Petterson, P.G., Spreng, R.A., (1997). Modelling the relationship between perceived value, satisfaction and repurchase intentions in a business-to-business, service context: an empirical investigation. Int. J. Serv. Ind. Manag. 8 (5), 414–434.

Rajaendram, R. (2020). Road to success, The Star online. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2020/04/26/road-to-success

Rovai, A., Downey, J. (2010). Why some distance education programs fail while others succeed in a global environment. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(3), 141–147.

Tan, K.C., Kek, S.W., (2004). Service quality in higher education using an enhanced SERVQUAL approach. Qual. High Educ. 10 (1), 17–24.

Tratnik, A (2017). Student satisfaction with an online and a face-to-face Business English

course in a higher education context Journal Innovations in Education and Teaching International

(1) pp. 1-10.

Worlu, R., Kehinde, O.J., Borishade, T.T., (2016). Effective customer experience management in health-care sector of Nigeria: a conceptual model. Int. J. Pharmaceut. Healthc. Market. 10 (4), 449–466.

Yılmaz, I., 2007. The Hotel Business in Terms of Quality of Service Measurement and Client Managers: Izmir Example Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Dokuz Eylul University Institute of Social Sciences.

Yojana Sharma, (2020). Private universities at risk as foreign students stay away, University World News, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=202012021628346

Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J., Gremler, D.D., (2009). Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus across the Firm, fifth ed. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Published

18-04-2023

How to Cite

Cheok Mui Yee, & Benjamin Chan Yan Fah. (2023). Investigating attributes of international students’ satisfaction in private universities in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. International Journal of Management, Accounting, Governance and Education , 2(1), 23–28. Retrieved from https://ojs.unirazak.edu.my/index.php/image/article/view/17

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>