article · Cogent Education
This research evaluates the Higher Education Quality Assessment Model within the post-conflict setting of Somalia. Using survey responses from 1,803 undergraduate students across five universities in the Benadir region, the assessment examines how eight institutional dimensions relate to career prospects. The measurement model confirmed reliable construct validity. Analysis revealed that campus infrastructure, academic staff quality, and curriculum structure are the primary drivers of positive student career outlooks, together accounting for nearly half of the variance in perceived employment prospects. Conversely, library services and institutional location displayed small negative links to career prospects, highlighting potential misalignments with employment expectations. Although curriculum design and staff quality supported digital services, these electronic services did not influence career outcomes. The findings demonstrate the validity of the assessment framework for identifying structural priorities in fragile higher education environments.
Higher education institutions in post-conflict regions face unique structural challenges. By confirming which university characteristics most effectively enhance students' career prospects, this model provides educational leaders and policymakers with clear evidence on where to direct resources. Focusing interventions on infrastructure, staff development, and updated curricula can directly strengthen student employability in fragile and developing economies.
The validated assessment framework offers an applied tool that higher education administrators, quality assurance bodies, and educational consultants can use to evaluate institutional performance. While the analytical model has been tested across five universities, commercial applications would require developing it into standardised auditing software or diagnostic consulting services for fragile and emerging education markets.
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This study assesses the measurement and structural validity of the Higher Education Quality Assessment Model (HEQAM) in Somalia’s post-conflict context, examining eight quality dimensions: curriculum structure, academic staff quality, career prospects, infrastructure, administrative services, library services, e-services, and institutional location. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 1,803 undergraduate students from five universities in the Benadir region, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) evaluated the measurement model and structural paths, with career prospects as the focal outcome. The measurement model demonstrated adequate reliability and construct validity. In the structural model, infrastructure (β=0.346), academic staff quality (β=0.330), and curriculum structure (β=0.306) were the strongest positive predictors of career prospects, explaining 48.6% of its variance (R^2=0.486). Library services (β=-0.057) and institutional location (β = -0.064) showed small, statistically significant negative associations with career prospects, reflecting potential mismatches with student employability expectations. Additionally, curriculum structure and staff quality positively predicted e-services (β=0.121; β=0.288), but e-services did not predict career prospects, yielding no support for mediation. Overall, findings validate HEQAM in a fragile-state setting, highlighting curriculum relevance, staff quality, and infrastructure as priority levers to enhance student-perceived employability in Somalia.
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DOI: 10.1080/2331186x.2026.2716436
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