Academic Staff Motivation: A Panacea for Improved Research Output and Quality Graduates from Universities in Kenya

Abstract

Academic staff in universities is a factor of production for the universities. Their performance as lectures, researchers and managers in these institutions determines, to a large extent, the quality of their graduates and research output they produce. Organizations that do not invest in their employees are entities that have no future life (Nsamenang, Tchombe, 2011; Ololube, 2006; Ofoegbu, 2004; Ogbonna, 2011). For private universities, the role of academic staff is very crucial. The teaching staff is instrumental in training and mentoring graduates with skills most sought for by employers. Northouse, (2007) suggests that University products should be compost of graduates who possess skills that are much needed by both local and international markets. The quality of graduates they produce markets them and binds them with higher enrolment rates. The income of universities depend their enrolment rates. Omusula (2017) in his study of demand and supply driven characteristics graduates seek to establish before enrolling for master of education programmes found out that enrolment rates positively correlate strongly with university incomes. Despite the fact that higher education institutions have a mission to offer a high-quality learning experience to all their students, they are at the same time expected to maintain a high level of production in their research work. It is the prerogative function of academic staff to ensure that they continuously engage in research as universities are incubators of knowledge production(Lanzeby, 2008). High research output enables universities to be branded, recognized and ranked among the world best institutions of higher learning. Academic staff is at the heart of university branding(Asongwe, 2008;Oluremi, 2008). Lecturers are the epitome of production of quality graduates and research output gravitates around them. To motivate them is the greatest honor of recognition of one of the universities' nerve centres. Frederick Herzberg (1987) postulates that Motivation can be self-driven or environmentally oriented. This study sought to establish individual and institutional based factors that motivate academic staff to carry out research in universities in Kenya. In mitigation, the study identified strategies that can be applied by universities to create the much needed, desired and sustainable individual and institutional higher research productivity. The researchers