ABSTRACT

Background: Universities should be sensitive to the needs and expectations of students. This study aimed to analyze the gap between perceptions and expectations of students of Jiroft University of Medical Sciences about the quality of educational services.

Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 213 medical, nursing, and midwifery students. Census method was used to sampling. The data were collected using a multi-dimensional questionnaire (SERVQUAL-22 items). Finally, the data were analyzed by T-test, ANOVA, and correlation coefficient. the significance level was considered as 0.05.

Results: The mean age of the participants in this study was 21.62 ± 1.79. Of students 132 (62%) were female and 186 (87.3%) were single. There was a quality gap in all dimensions of the quality of educational services (empathy, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and tangibility). The highest quality gap was observed in the empathy dimension -8.66 (4.2) and the smallest gap was observed in the tangibility dimension -4.18 (4.4).

Conclusions: The results indicate that the expectations of the students in all aspects of the quality of educational services (empathy, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and tangibility) are more than their perceptions. Thus, the authorities must take the necessary measures to meet the expectations of students.

Key-words: Training, quality of educational services, SERVQUAL model, perceptions, expectations, nursing and midwifery students.