Exploring the relationship between student individual culture and service quality expectations in higher education

Purpose This study aims to explore the influence of the individual student profile of Hofstede’s Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Collectiveness and Long-Term Orientation on student service quality expectations in higher education. Design/methodology/approach Data is collected via a survey con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quality assurance in education 2022-01, Vol.30 (1), p.51-72
Main Authors: Tsiligiris, Vangelis, Kéri, Anita, Cheah, Jeremy Eng-Tuck
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Cultural values
Culture
Customer services
Educational Environment
Educational Quality
Higher education
Influence
Learning
Quality of education
Quality of service
Questionnaires
Society
Students
Teaching
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Summary:Purpose This study aims to explore the influence of the individual student profile of Hofstede’s Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Collectiveness and Long-Term Orientation on student service quality expectations in higher education. Design/methodology/approach Data is collected via a survey consisting of items from a standard Hofstede and a higher education adapted SERVQUAL questionnaire. The survey sample includes 128 students who represent the entire population of a taught postgraduate course in Finance at a UK Higher Education Institution (HEI). Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlation analysis are used to describe and identify the relationship between student individual cultural values and student service quality expectations. Multiple regression analysis is applied to estimate the relationship between SERVQUAL constructs and items with respect to Hofstede’s cultural determinants. Findings The findings of this study suggest that individual culture can influence student service quality expectations in higher education. Practical implications In a context of a prospective quality management approach, there is value for HEIs to explore the individual cultural profile of their students as a way of understanding and actively managing student service quality expectations. Originality/value To the authors’ best knowledge, no previous study combines the SERVQUAL and Hofstede models in exploring the impact of cultural values on student service quality expectations in higher education.
ISSN:0968-4883
1758-7662
DOI:10.1108/QAE-11-2020-0137