Investigating the Influence of Professor Characteristics on Student Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction: A Comparative Study

This research uses the Kano model of satisfaction to investigate professor characteristics that create student satisfaction as well as those attributes that can cause their dissatisfaction. Kano questionnaires were handed out to 104 undergraduate students at a university in the Southwest and to 147 undergraduate students at a university in the Midwest of the United States. The two resulting Kano maps show the same delighting attributes although other satisfaction attributes are also similar. The findings reveal the importance of the personality of professors and the characteristics of professors that (a) are desired by students, (b) are not desired by students, (c) affect student satisfaction the most, and (d) affect satisfaction the least. The results also demonstrate how professors and universities can focus attention on those attributes most likely to influence satisfaction. No attributes of professors are classified as basic or taken for granted factors by students, although three attributes are excitement factors that have the potential to delight students. The findings illustrate that there is a set of multiple attributes that professors need to possess for satisfying student-professor classroom service encounters. Student populations appear to show strong similarities in their preferences for characteristics of professors that lead to satisfaction and dissatisfaction outcomes.