Determinants of Academic Staff Retention in Public Universities in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish determinants of academic staff retention in Kenyan public universities. Universities in Kenya are operating in a highly competitive environment and one of the challenges they face is employee retention. This has been occasioned by globalisation which has intensified competition and increased the mobility of highly skilled employees yet the universities depend on these staff for success and sustainability. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to establish whether the extrinsic factors (leadership style, remuneration) and intrinsic factors (training, promotion) influenced retention of academic staff, and the moderating effect of personal characteristics (age and education level) on academic staff retention. The study was conducted using survey design. The total population of the academic staff in the seven full fledged public universities covered by the study was 4967. Stratified random sampling was used in the first stage to ensure all subgroups were represented. The second stage employed simple random sampling and a total of 496 respondents were sampled for the study from the seven public universities. Data was collected using a questionnaire which had both closed-ended (Likert type scale 1-5) questions and open-ended questions. Items from the main questionnaire were arranged and grouped according to specific research objectives. Registrars in charge of administration of the seven public universities were interviewed in order to get in-depth information on retention. Through snowball method, a total of 70 responded to exit questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistics included correlation, multiple regression enter method and multiple regression (Stepwise) for moderation analysis. Qualitative data was put into categories based on themes that were aligned to research objectives and was integrated in the discussion of findings. The study revealed that leadership style negatively influenced academic staff retention. This study therefore brought to the fore, the role of leadership and their leadership style in academic staff retention. The findings also indicated that promotion influenced academic staff retention. In the presence of leadership style, training and promotion, remuneration did not influence academic staff retention. The findings also indicated that in the presence of leadership style, promotion and remuneration, training did not influence academic staff retention. Further, the study established that majority of those who left for studies abroad especially to the United States of America did not return. The findings showed that personal characteristics such as age and education level did not have a moderating effect on the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The study however established that on average the academic staff possessed PhD degree unlike previously where empirical findings had indicated that there was a paucity of PhD degrees in public universities in Kenya. The study recommended that leadership style and promotion practices be enhanced to decrease intention to leave and thus enhance academic staff retention in these institutions. The study also recommended that the unfavorable aspects raised regarding remuneration and training be addressed in order to make these institutions competitive. Additionally, the study suggested that public universities embrace current trends in employee retention such as employer branding in order to retain the core employees- the academic staff.