PROMOTION OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH FOR PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION AMONG SELECTED PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study aimed at-exploring on promotion of educational research for productivity & innovation among selected public and private universities in Nairobi County, Kenya.The study was guided by the following research questions: How does access and utilization of research funds affect research output in the universities? To what extent are research outputs commercialized? How does the management structures of the university influence research output? How does industry –university collaboration influence research output in the universities. The study was anchored on the Triple Helix Theory.The study adopted cross-section descriptive research design. The target population was 306 university researchers comprising of lecturers, PhD Students and any other staff in the universities involved in research. A sample size representing 30% of the target population was used for this investigation. The study used questionnaires to collect data. Cronbach Alpha technique was used to determine reliability of likert scale items in the university researchers’ questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 23 to generate frequencies and percentages that summarized data. The findings revealed that access and utilization of research funds influenced research output in the universities. It was also revealed that universities are making good efforts to commercialize the outputs of their research Management structures of the university influence research output and industry –university collaboration greatly influence research output in the universities. The study concluded that universities in Kenya have not taken commercialization of research results seriously. Additionally, there is low venture in profitable and marketable products such as trademarks, industrial design and utility models. The study recommended that: universities should balance teaching workload to ensure that university researchers have balanced hours for both teaching and research; universities should continuously sensitize university researchers on university-industrial sector linkages; Universities should continuously sensitize university researchers on commercialization of research results; Funding organizations of research projects should come up with simple and suitable research project financial reporting procedures; the government and other research funding organizations should increase funds for both research and commercialization; the government and funding organizations should avail adequate and timely communication on disbursement of funds.