In search of quality: measuring Higher Education Service Quality (HiEduQual)

The aim of the study is to develop and validate the construct HiEduQual (Higher Education Service Quality) to measure the level of service quality in higher education (HE) institutions. Scale development was undertaken through focus group discussions with four different stakeholders of HE that included students, parents, teachers, and employers. The scale was validated through data collection from seven different HE institutions. Based upon exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis the study found six determinants of service quality in HE. They were named as teacher quality, administrative services, knowledge services, activities, continuous improvement, and leadership quality. The final scale consisted of 37 items. The study covers three significant limitations that emerged from existing studies. Firstly, existing studies focused only on the students for generation of questionnaire items. The study takes into consideration other stakeholders to develop a measure for HE service quality provided to students. Secondly, existing studies neglect the fact that how level of service in education has changed over time, and thirdly, the current study found leadership as a significant dimension of quality in HE. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.