A Study On The Conflict Resolution Mechanisms In Higher Educational Institutions

To eliminate conflict, early organisational writers based their approaches on the principles of authority and unity of command. They believed that conflict could be eliminated or avoided by recruiting the right people, carefully specifying job descriptions, structuring the organization in such a way as to establish a clear chain of command, and establish clear rules and procedures to meet various contingencies. In institutions such as those of higher learning (e.g. universities), clear-cut policies ought to exist to provide guidance on how the administrators ought to manage or resolve conflicts. Public universities in Kenya have experienced student demonstrations and riots. The causes of students’ unrest in Kenya are largely external issues, and in a few instances, internal factors such as poor quality and type of food. The purpose of this study was to analyze the existing conflict resolution mechanisms in Kenyan public universities.Specifically, the study sought to achieve the following objectives:to identify the types of conflicts prevailing in the Kenyan public universities; to analyze the existing mechanisms in resolving conflicts between university management and students of public universities in Kenya; to analyze the existing mechanisms in resolving conflicts between university management and academic staff of public universities in Kenya; to analyze the existing mechanisms in resolving conflicts between university management and non-teaching staff of public universities in Kenya; and to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the existing conflict resolution mechanisms.A descriptive survey design was used in this study. The target population of this study comprised of academic staff, non-academic staff, and students drawn from the seven public universities in Kenya. They formed the respondents of the study. The sampling frame comprised of the list of respondents (administrators, academic staff, non-academic staff, and the students) derived from the respective universities’ academic registrars and human resource offices. This was used to select the representative sample. In the process of determining the sample size, the researcher applied a range of sampling techniques. Multi-stage sampling technique informed the entire sampling process. First, to ensure representative ness, the population was divided into two broad regions namely Nairobi region and Rift Valley. The universities to be used for the study were then sampled from each of the two regions through simple random sampling. The second stage involved the stratification of the respondents into four strata namely administrators, academic staff, non-academic staff, and the students. The selection of academic staff, non-academic staff, and the students from each stratum was done through simple random sampling. This ensured that there was no bias in sampling given that the universal population of the respondents in each of the public universities is large. Selection of administrators was done through purposive sampling. A sample was drawn to comprise of 10 administrators,30 members of the academic staff,30 members of the non-academic staff, and 30 students from each of the sample university. The study’s sample population was therefore comprised of 400 respondents. The questionnaire was the principal tool in collecting primary data. The questionnaire contained structured, semi-structured and open-ended questions. In addition, the interview guide was used to gather data from the key informants who were drawn from the administrative organs of the sample universities. Pre-testing was conducted to check the questionnaires structure and the sequence, meaning and ambiguity of questions. This was conducted with 5 randomly selected individuals from Egerton University. Quantitative data was analyzed by generating descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The descriptive statistics included frequency tallies, their corresponding percentage scores, and Cronbach’s Alphas. The findings were presented by using tables. Qualitative analysis involved categorizing of data from interviews and field notes into common themes and presented using frequency distribution tables and charts. This study analyzed conflict resolution mechanisms in Kenya’s public universities as a basis of conflict management in Kenya’s public universities. As indicated in the findings, not all conflicts are bad. Certain forms of conflicts can stimulate thinking and crucial viewpoints and is always an important learning process both for students and academic staff. All the sampled students and staff agreed that there exist certain strengths and weaknesses in conflict resolution mechanisms in the public universities. The study established that dialogue has the potential to enhance peaceful co-existence among various members of the university communities. In addition, the existing mechanisms involve disciplinary committees; rapid results initiatives; security; student and workers unions in place and working satisfactorily to the benefit of members. The disciplinary mechanisms were found to have perpetrated victimization of participants especially during dialogue. In addition, the mechanisms have led to the following:decisions take a longer time to be made; notable failure to implement certain resolutions; and students’leaders are subjected to corrupt deals to cover up certain conflict areas. When there are no conflicts between students and staff of all cadres, every one benefits. The students are able to complete their studies on schedule while lecturers can also plan their time for teaching as well as for their research. Without researching and publishing, the academic staff will never be promoted nor make a real impact on their teaching since they will only be recycling old knowledge. It is imperative that all concerned parties at the universities be proactive to identify what positive actions may be taken to from each individual’s ideas to resolve a potential, perceived or real conflict. The researcher opines that suppression (coercion) as a technique of conflict resolution is not an adequate procedure, because, by definition, it suppresses/coerces and denies the causes of conflict and therefore allows the causes of the conflict to simmer and remain a time bomb ready to explode once a trigger is pulled. The habit of expelling or suspending university students and staff who engage in demonstrations to demand certain rights, is not a very cleaver idea. The findings of the study seemed to concur with findings from empirical studies.