Relationship between quality management systems and students’ satisfaction in Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya

Abstract

Student Satisfaction (SS) is a key factor in the attraction and retention of customers in an institution of learning. Demand for quality products and services by students have become evident in institutions of higher learning in Kenya. Universities are investing a lot of resources and efforts to become more performing organisations by providing quality products and services to their customers and in particular students. Quality Management Systems (QMS) is one way of achieving this goal. QMS is a management approach that requires consideration of the University’s operations, strategy, staff as well as students to provide quality services and hence meet students’ satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between QMS and students’ satisfaction in Egerton University, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to identify critical dimension of service quality that contributed most to students’ satisfaction, established the relationship between QMS and students’ satisfaction as well as establishing the relationship between QMS and students’ satisfaction with respect to gender in Egerton University. Ex post facto research design was used in the study. The target population consisted of 13,260 undergraduate students while 2,730 third year students were accessible population drawn from Egerton University, Njoro Campus. Purposive sampling was used to select third year students who were considered to have settled in their campus life. Proportionate stratified sampling was used to select participants from six faculties of the University while simple random sampling was used to draw required number of respondents from each stratum (Faculty). A total of 241 students participated in the study. Student Service Quality Questionnaire (SSQQ) was used to collect the data. Construct, content and face validity of the instrument was ascertained by research experts from the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Management, Egerton University. Piloting of the study instruments was carried out on 30 third year students of Nakuru Town Campus, Egerton University. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to estimate reliability and was found to be 0.8866. Descriptive statistics including means, frequencies and percentages and Pearson Product Correlation (r) were used to analyze data with the help of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS). The results were considered significant at 0.05 level of confidence. The findings of the study showed that there was a significant relationship between QMS and students’ satisfaction in Egerton University. The findings of the study may be used by Egerton University and other institutions of higher learning in improving their Quality Management Systems in order to provide quality services and enhance students’ satisfaction.