Political Environment and Implementation of Workforce Diversity Policies in Public Universities in Kenya

This study sought to establish the influence of political environment on the implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya. A positivist paradigm using descriptive cross sectional survey research design is used. The population of the study comprised of employees of 22 Public Universities in Kenya that existed prior to December, 2014. Purposive sampling was used to select seven universities that participated in the study while Yamane’s (1967) formula was used to calculate the sample size. A sample size of 393 was used from academic and non-academic staff from the participating universities. A structured questionnaire with Likert-type interval scale anchored on a five-point scale was used to collect primary data. Data analysis was done using linear regression model. The findings revealed that political environment had a negative and statistically significant influence on implementation of workforce diversity policies. The study concludes that the political environment in Kenya limits the extent to which public universities’ workforce diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity and disability is achieved. Based on the findings, the study recommends a selfless focus on implementation that matches the spirit of policy intention and interpretation with a view of going beyond compliance.