A Structural Equation Model of Factors Influencing Satisfaction of University Students in Myanmar

Abstract

Satisfaction among university students derives from a variety of factors. It is indicated by the literature that personal, instructional, university, social, and outcome-related factors collectively contribute to the satisfaction of university students within the context of higher education. The purpose of this research was to develop and confirm the validity of the factors influencing student satisfaction of university students. A total of 1814 university students (644 males and 1094 females) from eleven universities in Myanmar participated in this study in February 2020. Various validated instruments, including established standardized measures and self-developed instruments, were employed for assessing both student satisfaction and its underlying factors. The structural equation modeling approach was done to confirm the validity of the model on factors influencing student satisfaction of university students. SEM results confirmed that instructional factors, social factors and outcome-related factors had direct effect on student satisfaction but personal factors and university factors had only indirect effect through social factors. Totally, 64.5 % of the variance in student satisfaction can be explained by the structural equation model. This study provided a research insight on the relationship of factors influencing student satisfaction and important implications for stakeholders to develop intervention plans and ways to improve university students’ satisfaction.

Keywords

• student satisfaction
• structural equation modeling
• personal factors
• social factors
• universtiy factors
• instructional factors
• outcome-related factors