The objective of this study was to establish relationship between gender diversity and employee performance of public universities in Western Kenya. The target population composed of four public universities and the respondents were 120 head of departments. The study adopted a mixed method design and a survey method was used to collect primary data using a questionnaire pretested for validity and reliability. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Out of the 120 questionnaires sent out, 93 questionnaires were received giving a response rate of 78%. Regression and correlation analysis established a statistically significant positive relationship between gender diversity and employee performance. The conclusions drawn from the study findings is that gender diversity influence employee performance positively and majority of the employees are positive about gender diversity practices in public universities. The study then recommended that, these institutions should strive to increase representation of female employees in leadership positions in teams not just as a fulfillment of affirmative policies but as positive gender diversity practice. Further research should be carried out on other variables of workforce diversity, test moderating variable on this relationship and a look into other institutions in public and private sectors.
Ahmed, G.G. & Wario G. (2013). Investigation of the Diversity Management Practices in the Civil Service in Kenya. International journal of innovative research and development, Vol 2; 11.
Armstrong, M. (2006). Human resource management (10th Ed.). London: Kogan Page.
Becker, G. (1964) Human Capital, Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press.
Brown, S. L. (2008). Diversity in the Workplace: A Study of Gender, Race, Age, and Salary Level. Academy of Management Journal, 44(3), 533-545.
Carrel, M. R. (2006). Defining Workforce Diversity Programs and Practices in Organizations: A Longitudinal Study. Labor Law Journal. Spring, 2006.
Commission of University Education in Kenya. (2013). Status of Universities; Universities authorized to operate in Kenya.
Cox, T. (2001). Creating the Multicultural Organization: A Strategy for Capturing the Power of Diversity, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. (2nd Ed.) Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Creswell, J. W. & Plano Clark, V. (2007). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage.
De Cieri, H. & Kramar, R. (2003). Human resource management in Australia. Sydney: McGraw Hill.
Dimba, B.A. & Rugimbana, R. (2013). An assessment of the moderating role of employees’ cultural orientations amongst foreign manufacturing multinational companies in Kenya. SA Journal of Human Resource Management/SA Tydskrif vir Menslikehulpbronbestuur, 11(1).
D'Netto, B., Monga, M., Shen, J., & Chelliah, J. (2008). Manufacturing Employees' Perceptions of Human Resource Diversity Management Practices in Australia. Sydney, Australia: The Australian Workers' Union.
D'Netto, B., & Sohal, A. S. (1999). Human resource practices and workforce diversity: an empirical assessment. International Journal of Manpower, 20, 530-547
Emiko, M. & Eunmi, C. (2009). Diversity management and the effects on employees’ organizational commitment: Evidence from Japan and Korea. Journal of World Business, 44, 31–40
Government of Kenya. (2007). Vision 2030, Ministry of planning and National Development and the National Economic and Social Council (NESC), Office of the President.
Green, K., López, M., Wysocki, A. & Kepner, K. (2002). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools. University of Florida, USA.
Greene. J. C., Benjamin, L. & Goodyear, L. (2001). The merits of mixing methods in evaluation. Evaluation, 7(1), 25-44.
Harish, J. & John, L. (2001). “Visible Minorities under the Canadian Employment Equity Act (1987-1999): An Analysis of Company Annual Report Data with Policy Recommendations,” submitted to Heritage Canada (an agency of the Canadian Federal Government), December, 2001.
Inmyxai, S. & Takahashi Y. (2010). Performance Comparison Derived from Human Resources between Male and Female Headed Firms in the Lao MSMEs. International Review of Business Research Papers, 6(2), 12-38.
Jabbour, C. J. C., Gordono, F. S., Oliveira, J. H. C. d., Martinez, J. C., & Battistelle, R. A. G. (2011). Diversity management Challenges, benefits, and the role of human resource management in Brazilian organizations. Equality Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations, 30, 58-74.
Jackson, B. W., LaFasto, F., Schultz, H. G. & Kelly, D. (1992). Diversity; Human Resource Management, Vol. 31, No.1.
Jain, H. & Verma, A. (1996). Managing workforce diversity for competitiveness: the Canadian experience. International Journal of Manpower, Vol.17, No. 4/5. Pp4–29.
Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. B. (2004). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Kalyani, L.D. (2006). An empirical investigation of the impact of organizational factors on the perceived job performance of shop floor employees of large scale garment industries in Sri
In-Text Citation: (Odhiambo, Gachoka, & Rambo, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Odhiambo, M. W., Gachoka, H. G., & Rambo, C. M. (2018). Relationship between Gender Diversity and Employee Performance of Public Universities in Western Kenya. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(11), 249–272.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
