Student satisfaction and the customer focus in higher education

an article by Eddie Mark (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada) published in Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management Volume 35 Issue 1 (February 2013)

Abstract

Advocating a customer focus, the Total Quality Management model of leadership has led to success in raising performance levels throughout various manufacturing and service industries. Many education stakeholders, however, are resistant to the notion that post-secondary students benefit from being treated like customers.

While many critics oppose the traditional business philosophy that ‘the customer is always right' and maintain that pandering to students’ short-term demands is damaging to the learning process few studies explore alternative notions of what it means to ensure student satisfaction.

This paper promotes a conceptual interpretation that is not governed by the philosophy that ‘the customer is always right’.

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