Identifying critical factors in higher education studies: combining necessary condition and importance-performance map analyses

This paper presents a combination of necessary condition analysis (NCA) and importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) as a suitable analytical approach for studies in higher education. NCA identifies necessary conditions for achieving specific outcomes, while IPMA identifies factors according to their importance and performance. The combined approach is illustrated using data from the 2023 Norwegian Studiebarometer survey, focusing on identifying key factors influencing overall student satisfaction. The results reveal that the organization of study programs is the most critical factor influencing overall student satisfaction, followed by teaching quality and the academic and social environment. Interestingly, feedback and guidance ranked as the least significant factor, raising questions about students' perceptions of its importance. The study proposes several potential educational research topics that can be addressed using NCA combined with IPMA. Such issues include factors related to inclusive education and accessibility, student engagement and motivation, and technology integration in education.