Determinants of academic staff retention in Makerere and Kyambogo Universities in Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the critical factors that determine the retention of academic staff in Makerere and Kyambogo Universities. The study was prompted by the low retention of academic staff in the two universities. The study mainly followed the positivist research paradigm with limited qualitative approaches. It employed a descriptive, cross-sectional survey design. The study respondents were 298 academic and four administrative staff drawn from both universities. Academic staff were sampled using stratified random sampling technique while administrative staff were purposively sampled. Data were collected using an adapted self-administered questionnaire and a researcher constructed interview guide. Quantitative data were analysed with the use of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations; and inferential statistics like student t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Linear regression methods. The study findings revealed that marital status (F=0.288; p=0.750> 0.05), age (F=0.748; p=0.560> 0.05), experience (F=0.270; p=0.841> 0.05), education levels (F=0.528; p=0.663>0.05), and interpersonal relationships (B=-0.003; p=0.957>0.05) have statistically insignificant effect on the retention of academic staff in the two universities. However, gender (t=2.556; p=0.006< 0.05), terms of work (B=0.163; p=0.005<0.05) and work life balance (B=0.318; p=0.000<0.05) have a statistically significant effects on the retention of academic staff. Thus, it was concluded that certain factors are more critical than others in the determination of academic staff retention in the two universities. The researcher recommends that the management of Makerere and Kyambogo Universities should revise and effectively implement policies that favour both gender differences. In addition, the two universities should improve terms of work and work life balance such as regulated work load and stability in work tenure.