Influence of Leadership Styles on Quality Assurance in Selected Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya

Abstract

The central problem of this study was that, despite the government reform effort in the higher educational sector, quality assurance has continued to deteriorate with some students acquiring questionable papers from these universities. Influence to this dismal quality assurance has not been adequately investigated and well understood, hence hindering quality assurance by the institutions of higher learning that play a critical role in education. To this end, the purpose of this study was to investigate influence of leadership styles on quality assurance in the institutions of higher learning in Kenya. The main focus was all chartered public and private universities. Using stratified sampling, 249 leaders were selected to represent the total population. Sampling was done given the population size. The considerations of the relationships between independent variables and dependent variable were sought. The study used descriptive design with the list of leaders (Student representatives, Lecturers, HOD’s and Deans) serving as the sampling frame. A questionnaire was used to gather relevant information from the respondents. The data collected was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Linear regression curves were developed and these revealed positive correlations between all the independent variables and the dependent variable. The study established that there was a positive influence on quality assurance in the institutions of higher learning attributed to units of change for all the independent (Leadership style) variables. In conclusion, combined correlations of five independent variables were computed and findings revealed that there was significant relationship between the independent leadership variables. A multiple regression established that there was a strong positive influence on quality assurance in the institutions of higher learning attributed to units of change for all the independent Leadership variables especially spiritual leadership style. Using ANOVA, results suggested that the independent variables are good predictors of Quality assurance. The study recommends that: (i), despite the usual presumption that autocracy promotes enforcement of policies and procedures, the scatter plot in our result suggests that the response is not coherent such that Autocratic leadership style does not significantly promote teamwork and communication. (ii) Channel of communication in the institutions of higher learning should be all rounded and clear to all stakeholders (iii) when it comes to performance, teamwork has to be embraced and this is in relation to Quality assurance that needs the involvement of all stakeholders. (iv) An ideal is a blended form of leadership that promotes intelligence, transparency and safeguards public interests (v) In general; the five leadership styles that inform this study should form a blend at corporate team management level and at individual personality level. (vi) and lastly, this study reveals three major points; (a) a leadership matrix (b) spirituality stands out in terms of its inspirational formation context of organization (c) Autocratic leadership style is good in policy implementation while all strategic, transactional as well as transformational are almost equal in rank and therefore must be equally important as integral rather than exclusive quality of a CEO.