Factors Influencing Research Productivity Among Academic Staff In Selected Public And Private Universities In Kenya

Abstract

The current academic climate in higher education in Kenya threatens the Kenyan

universities' ability to sustain the conditions that support research productivity. Increased

demands on government and private funding, a deteriorating physical infrastructure,

increased pressure on undergraduate programs, university expansion strategies and

general economic climate in the country have raised concerns about the continued

capacity of universities to maintain teaching, research productivity and service to the

community. This mandates deliberate efforts made to find out the progress made in the

research arena at all times. It is only through these assessments that a nation can be able

to know whether it is making any meaningful scientific progress or not.

The study sought to examine the following; factors that influence research

productivity, the attitude of academic staff to research and publishing among academic

staff and possible ways to enhance research productivity. Survey research design and

document analysis were employed in this study. The questionnaire was used to collect

information from 277 (70.2% male and 29.8% female) university academic staff and 17

heads of departments drawn from 11 public and private universities. The information was

analyzed by descriptive statistics. SPSS (Version 15) was used to do descriptive statistics,

cross tabulations and ANOV A. Factor analysis was used for data reduction, identification

and description of the major factors influencing research productivity as noted by

respondents. Document analysis dwelt on the analysis of the sampled research policies of

the selected universities. Information from these documents revealed that most

universities were not keen in the area of staff professional development.

The results obtained from this study indicate that the research productivity index

for the universities in Kenya is low. Personal career development, institutional and

demographic factors are the main factors influencing research productivity. There was

found to be significant relationship between age group, highest degree obtained,

individual university and highest degree obtained and attitude towards research and

publishing. The main recommendation made by this study is for the development of

national and institutional research policies to guide and manage research in this country.