Workforce Diversity and Employee Performance of Private Christian Universities in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Employee performance has been a major issue in private universities. Employers have been trying to solve the problem through different means but minimal emphasize have been put on workforce diversity as a factor that can affect employee performance. Workforce diversity in Private Christian Universities involves different abilities and skills that each worker contributes to the organization. Notwithstanding, the effort to value the diversity of the workforce in order to improve employee overall performance is still dim and still yet to be largely felt. The gap is still yet to be filled. As a result, the research intended to find out the influence of workforce diversity on the productivity of employees in private Christian universities operating in Kiambu County, Kenya as a result of this unfilled void. The research was steered by four objectives; to determine the influence of ethnicity, marital status, education level and gender on employee performance in private Christian Universities in Kiambu County, Kenya. The research was based on three theories which included stereotyping and discrimination, pluralism, and equity. The theory of pluralism was the philosophy of the study’s field. Descriptive research design was employed. The study used stratified random sampling methodology which allowed the researcher to collect the desired data across the various subgroup which included senior managers, department heads, full-time lecturers and office administrators. A sample size of 60 from the total target population of 180 respondents was chosen. The researcher sought help of a research assistant to quicken the process of distributing questionnaires to the study respondents. The response rate was at 85% whereby 51 out of 60 questionnaires were filled satisfactorily. Afterward, data collected was analysed using SPSS software which offers extensive data handling capability and numerous statistical analyses such as descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics comprised of mean, mode, average, frequencies and standard deviation. Inferential statistics on the other hand, included cross-tabulation and regression. In addition, content analysis was performed and analysed the obtained qualitative data. All the analysis was presented in tables, charts and graphs with percentages and frequencies. The findings from the analysis established that ethnicity, marital status, education level and gender diversity had positive and statistically significant correlation with employee performance. A regression analysis was run and the results showed that all the variables had a strong positive effect on employee performance, though they were moderately practiced in the private Christian universities in Kiambu County. Recommendations such as equal employment opportunities (EEO) in the universities were given and areas for future studies such as carrying out this study in public universities were also suggested.