Evaluation of Service Quality Based on Student Expectations and Perceptions in Higher Education Institutions with SERVQUAL Scale: A Research in Dokuz Eylul University Izmir Vocational School

It is important to determine how the quality of service is perceived by students in higher education institutions. Determining how service quality is perceived by students will contribute to the initiation of quality improvement activities. The purpose of this study is to determine the student's perception of service quality in Dokuz Eylul University Izmir Vocational School (DEUIVS). The study population included 3320 students of DEUIVS. 648 students were selected from this population by using the Quota Sampling method. The research data were collected during the spring semester of 2016-2017. Widely used for measuring service quality, the SERVQUAL scale was used for the data collection. The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS 23.00 statistical program. To compare the variables, one-way ANOVA and independent sample t-test were used. The reliability of the scale was tested by reliability analyses. In the reliability analysis for the expectation, perception and general question items of the scale, the alpha coefficients were 0.95, 0.93, and 0.95, respectively. 40% of the participants were female, 60% of the participants were male. 72.4% of the respondents were found to have experienced problems during the service process. Assurance is found as the most important dimension of service quality. Unlike "having problems" in service processes, "gender" of students, "recommend or don't recommend organization to someone else" which were found not to affect the perception of service quality, "grade average" and "general assessment of students for school's services" did have an effect on this perception