The factors influencing students’ academic satisfaction in higher education

Mohd Azry Abdul Malik

Abstract

Higher education institutions have rigorous procedures to achieve excellence, with student academic satisfaction being one of the main foci of all efforts to achieve success. This study identifies the determinants of academic satisfaction. The study also identifies the differences in academic satisfaction between genders. 328 respondents were selected as the sample among students in the Faculty of Business and Management and the Faculty of Science and Mathematics in one of the main college campuses in Kelantan, using stratified random sampling. Data collection was done using a self-report questionnaire. The resulting data were analysed using multiple linear regression (MLR) and independent T-test. The results indicate that sense of belonging, student interaction, and course evaluation are significantly positively related to academic satisfaction. The results also show no significant difference in academic satisfaction between genders. This topic was found to be important for educators, administrative teams, and policy makers because it provides them with the necessary background knowledge about the factors that influence the success of higher education. . Keywords: Satisfaction; Academic; Programme; Higher Education; Student

References

Al-Sheeb, B., Hamouda, A. M., & Abdella, G. M. (2018). Investigating determinants of student satisfaction in the first year of college in a public university in the state of Qatar. Education Research International, 2018, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7194106

Amir-ud-Din, R., Mahmood, H. Z., Abbas, F., Salman, V., & Zafar, S. (2021). Leaving studies because of lack of interest: an analysis of the risk factors of school dropouts in Pakistan. Quality & Quantity, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01266-9

Ang, C. S., Lee, K. F., & Dipolog-Ubanan, G. F. (2019). Determinants of first-year student identity and satisfaction in higher education: A quantitative case study. SAGE Open, 9(2), 2158244019846689. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019846689

Antaramian, S. (2017). The importance of very high life satisfaction for students’ academic success. Cogent Education, 4(1), 1307622. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1307622

Azila-Gbettor, E., Mensah, C., & Abiemo & M. K. (2021). Self-efficacy and academic programme satisfaction: mediating effect of meaningfulness of study. International Journal of Educational Management, 36(3), 261-276. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem-09-2021-0353

Kakada, Praveen & Deshpande, Y.M.. (2018). Relationship between institutional support and student satisfaction. International Journal of Management and Business Research. 8. 184-198. https://doi.org/10.28945/4461

Lekkas, Z., Germanakos, P., Tsianos, N., Mourlas, C., & Samaras, G. (2013). Personality and emotion as determinants of the learning experience: how affective behavior interacts with various components of the learning process. In Human-Computer Interaction. Applications and Services: 15th International Conference, HCI International 2013, Las Vegas, NV, USA, July 21-26, 2013, Proceedings, Part II 15 (pp. 418-427). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39262-7_48

Martin, F., Wang, C., & Sadaf, A. (2018). Student perception of helpfulness of facilitation strategies that enhance instructor presence, connectedness, engagement and learning in online courses. The Internet and Higher Education, 37, 52-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2018.01.003

Rahmatpour, P., Peyrovi, H., & Sharif Nia, H. (2021). Development and psychometric evaluation of postgraduate nursing student academic satisfaction scale. Nursing Open, 8(3), 1145-1156. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.727

Ramos, A. M., Barlem, J. G. T., Lunardi, V. L., Barlem, E. L. D., Silveira, R. S. D., & Bordignon, S. S. (2015). Satisfaction with academic experience among undergraduate nursing students. Texto & Contexto-Enfermagem, 24, 187-195. https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-07072015002870013

Rodriguez, O. M., Gonzalez-Gomez, F., & Guardiola, J. (2019). Do course evaluation systems have an influence on e-learning student satisfaction? Higher Education Evaluations and Developments, 13(1), 18-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/heed-09-2018-0022

Sangodiah, A., et. al. (2015). Minimizing Student Attrition In Higher Learning Institutions In Malaysia Using Support Vector Machine. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 71(3). https://doi.org/10.34028/18/4/8

Shantakumari, N., & Sajith, P. (2015). Blended learning: The student viewpoint. Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research, 5(5), 323-328. https://doi.org/10.4103/2141-9248.165248