Factors influencing gender disparities in the recruitment of executive officers: a case in Kisii county government, Kenya

Abstract

This study intends to study the factors influencing gender disparity in executive positions in KCG. To achieve this, the study will be guided by two objectives which include; determining social-cultural factors affecting the recruitment of women and its effects to KCG and finding out whether education influences the recruitment process of executive officers in KCG. The theory was hinged on the Feminist Theory and Social Cognitive theory. The case study research design was adopted. The study targeted staff who entailed the 119-top echelon of staff in the County. The sample size to be studied is census of 119 respondents who make up 100% of the target population for efficient questionnaire administration. Primary data was collected using one structured questionnaire. Primary data collected from the field was captured from the filled questionnaires, cleaned, coded with unique numbers, entered into the Microsoft excel worksheets and transferred to the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. After data cleaning which entails checking for errors in entry, descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean score and standard deviation was estimated for all the quantitative variables. The qualitative data from the open-ended questions was analyzed using conceptual content analysis to analyze the secondary data collected from Kisii County annual reports, the Kisii County Integrated Development Plan 2013-2017, the Kisii County Website, books, journals, magazines and media reports and presented in prose. Inferential data analysis was done using Pearson moment correlation and multiple regression analysis. The information was presented in tables. The study found that the gender disparity of work is given by chance and men have to give a convincing demonstration of incompetency to be actually judged incompetent. The studies also found that quite a number of women apply for such posts so that selection can be easier. The study concluded that education had the greatest effect on the gender disparities in the recruitment of executive officers in Kisii County government while social-cultural factors had the least effect to the gender disparities in the recruitment of executive officers in Kisii County government. The study recommended that there is need to embrace on the communal beliefs and social constructs that women cannot lead in leadership positions more likely to be hired when they have applied through computerized application process. The study also recommends that more women should be encouraged and supported to go for higher education and training so that they can take equal employment positions as their male counterparts.