Determinants of Career Choice, Job Satisfaction and Retention of Academic Staff in Three Private Universities in Ghana

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2012-06-22
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Abstract
Career selection is one of the many important choices people make in determining future plans. Choosing a career as an academic staff in private universities is very critical in Ghana today due to the growing demand for higher learning in Ghana. For choosing this career, academic staff must derive some source of satisfaction and be motivated enough to consider retaining their jobs for a long time in order for their role to be successful. This research examines the determinants of career choice, job satisfaction and retention of academic staff in three private institutions in Ghana namely; Pentecost University College, Regent University College of Science and Technology and Maranatha University College. A total of 96 respondents made up of 93 academic staff conveniently selected and 3 randomly selected management staff were used for the research. The main method of data collection was questionnaire. The data was analysed using SPSS and descriptive statistics such as percentages, tables and frequencies were used to present the data. The study showed that most academic staff private in universities chose their career due to their passion for the job as well as good working environment and their need to be autonomous. The study further revealed that although the lecturers are satisfied about their jobs and their working environments, the larger proportion are unhappy with their salaries. The greatest challenge they face in their work is inadequate facilities followed by delay in their salary payment. Retention is poor in private universities because most academic staff said they would leave to work in public universities if they had the chance. Recommendations to motivate and retain academic staff include putting in place concrete career development programs as well as retention policies in other to develop and retain them in their various universities.
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A thesis submitted to the Institute of Distance Learning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of A COMMONWEALTH EXECUTIVE MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION,2012
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