Implementation Of Workforce Diversity Policies on Service Delivery in Selected Public Universities in Kenya

Abstract

The delivery of quality services by universities is essential due to their role as centres for knowledge creation, dissemination, and intergenerational transmission through teaching, research, innovation, and community involvement for societal transformation. However, due to globalization and rapid technological advancement, universities operate in highly competitive and dynamic environments. The efficiency of service delivery in Kenyan public universities has been below expectations, adversely affecting performance and diminishing global rankings. The study aimed to establish the influence of workforce diversity policy implementation on the quality and effectiveness of service delivery in selected public universities in Kenya. Specific objectives included: determining the effect of persons with disability policy implementation; establishing the influence of youth policy implementation; examining the influence of gender policy implementation; assessing the role of ethnic policy implementation; and determining the moderating effect of organizational culture on the relationship between diversity policy implementation and service delivery. The study was anchored on Social Identity Theory, Resource-Based View, and the SERVQUAL Model. A positivism research philosophy and mixed-methods design were adopted to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The population comprised 14,623 employees: 10,120 non-teaching staff and 4,503 full-time teaching staff. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. Yamane's Taro (1967) formula calculated a sample size of 389, and simple random sampling was employed. The unit of analysis was selected from public universities in Kenya. A pilot study tested the validity and reliability of instruments, with Cronbach's Alpha measuring reliability. For hypothesis testing, linear regression, correlation coefficient, and ANOVA were adopted. Findings established that persons with disabilities policy implementation was positive and statistically significant (p<0.05). Youth diversity policy contributed positively to service delivery. Gender policy implementation had a statistically significant and positive influence (R²=0.265, p<0.05), and ethnic policy implementation also significantly influenced service delivery. Culture moderated gender and ethnicity and positively influenced service delivery. The study concluded that all explanatory variables exerted substantial, favorable influence on service delivery. It is recommended that public universities implement ethnic policies during recruitment and provide gender mainstreaming training on diversity policies. Further studies should focus on larger samples, comparative analyses between private and public universities, and rural versus urban universities. The findings are important to human resource practitioners in developing strategies for strengthening diversity policies, and to academicians and researchers by providing empirical evidence.