A Markov Chain Model Approach to Study Academic Promotions in Ghanaian Universities

Abstract

Promotions of academic staff in universities and analogous institutions remain crucial to the attainment of economic, environmental and societal objectives nationally and globally. Notwithstanding the benefits to institutions and individuals, little literature is available on outlay of promotions in universities in Ghana. This paper seeks to model promotions in Ghanaians universities as stochastic process to determine the underlining stochasticness under different conditions. Stochastic model with emphasis on the an absorbing Markov Chain, presented in its canonical form, was used to estimate the probability of lecturers attaining professorial status before retiring from service, and also the average length of time an academic