Predicting students' satisfaction through service quality in higher education

•Significant gaps exist between perceived importance and actual experience of service quality with actual experience lower.•Significant gender differences were found in overall satisfaction.•Predictors of students' satisfaction were intention to leave, trust in management and perception of readiness for change.•In addition to gender, cultural differences may also play a role students experience.

The study investigates predictors of students' satisfaction with their university by examining some of the criteria used by students. Specifically, three research questions were investigated: are there gaps in students' perception of service quality; are there gender differences in students' satisfaction; and what are the predictors of service quality and students' satisfaction? A survey instrument was completed by a random sample of 564 students from three universities in South Africa and Swaziland.The findings show that the students identify significant gaps between perceived importance of service quality and the actual experience with actual experience being lower. Significant gender differences were found in overall satisfaction. Moreover, results showed the most important predictors of overall students' satisfaction were intention to leave, trust in management, and perception of readiness for change. In addition to gender, cultural differences may also play a role students experience. Future research may also use a longitudinal approach to eliminate the limitations of a cross-sectional study. The need for the universities to pay more attention to how they manage the overall students' experience particularly bridging the gap through improved administrative support; ensuring more intervention and engagement with new entrants and more overt use of students' feedback.