An Investigation Into the Key Service Quality Factors in Higher Education That Shapes Students’ Decisions When Selecting Online Degree Courses in Scotland

Abstract

The tremendous development of online education in Scotland has altered the delivery of higher education and the service quality has become the significant factor of student satisfaction. With increased adoption of digital platforms in universities, it has been critical to comprehend the impact of service quality dimensions in online learning of students. The importance of the SERVQUAL dimensions reliability, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, and tangibles in the construction of satisfaction is also noted by previous studies, but few research studies have specifically investigated online degree programmes completely in the Scottish environment. To fill this gap, this study will focus on the perceptions of online service quality and general satisfaction that students have with the quality of online higher education and the evidence-based information will be used to aid the improvement of the quality of online higher education.
Service quality is continually pointed to in the literature regarding the topic of online education as a factor that determines the level of satisfaction and loyalty in the student. Research employing SERVQUAL framework determines reliability, responsiveness, empathy, assurance and tangibles as serious antecedents of satisfaction in web-based learning. Empathy and assurance are also especially effective in determining the level of trust and confidence in students, and physical elements like ease of use of the platform improve the learning process. Nevertheless, the existing literature is mostly done outside of the UK and aimed at the satisfaction or loyalty levels, which leaves a contextual and empirical gap in the Scottish online higher education sector.
This study is a positivist philosophy that is deductive in nature with a view of refuting or proving service quality hypotheses as far as online higher education in Scotland is concerned. The quantitative measure of the perceptions of online service quality of the students was conducted through a descriptive research design and survey strategy. A structured questionnaire with references to the SERVQUAL model was created to gather primary data which were distributed among the online degree programmes students. The sampling method was convenience sampling because of the limitations of accessing the respondents and the target population was 382 respondents which was calculated considering the 95 percent confidence interval and a margin of error of 5. The statistical methods were used to analyse the data to assess the relationships between dimensions of service quality and student satisfaction.
Results
The quantitative research looked at the correlation between the dimensions of the service quality and student satisfaction in online degree programs in Scotland. Descriptive statistics revealed consistently positive perceptions in all of the dimensions of service quality, and assurance and responsiveness had the highest means of the scores. A test of reliability and validity established acceptable internal consistency and adequacy of construct of the measurement instrument. The correlation analysis has shown that all service quality dimensions to student satisfaction were statistically significant with correlation coefficients of about 0.49 to 0.59 (p < .001).
The multiple regression analysis showed that there is a good fit of the model which explains 70.8 per cent of the variance of student satisfaction (R2 = 0.708). Assurance, responsiveness and tangibles were the most important predictors and reliability and empathy had great impact but were of positive influence. In general, the results validate the fact that service quality plays a critical role in student satisfaction, and decision-making in online higher education, which contributes to the relevance of SERVQUAL framework to the Scottish online education setting.
Discussion and Conclusion
The results indicate that assurance, which is an indicator of the reputation of the institution and trust in the academic ability, responsiveness and tangibles are most important variables that determine student satisfaction and enrolment choices. Far less influential but beneficial are reliability and empathy that facilitate consistent, individualised, and inclusive learning processes. The findings support the fact that online higher education service quality is multidimensional and have identified institutional credibility and digital infrastructure, as critical factors. It is on these grounds that practitioners are advised as proactive in controlling institutional reputation, timely academic and technical assistance, strategic planning of user-friendly learning platforms, constancy of course delivery and provision of personalised learning pathways to facilitate engagement and satisfaction. These measures can enhance student confidence, satisfaction, and enrolment as well as competitive positioning in the online higher education industry.