Influence of Leadership Style on Academic Staff Retention in Public Universities in Kenya
Jane Muceke Ng’ethe, Prof. G.S. Namusonge, Dr. Mike A. Iravo

Abstract
Public Universities are operating in highly competitive environment which requires that these institutions retain their core employees in order to gain and retain competitive advantage. For the last one decade these institutions have experienced competition both locally and globally in terms of students and staff. Consequently they are no longer the key players in the provision of higher education in Kenya. The role of leaders in employee retention is critical since their leadership style play a key role in determining whether the employees leave or stay. The study sought to find out the influence of leadership style on academic staff retention in public universities. Data was collected from 547 academic staff members sampled from the seven fully fledged public universities in Kenya. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data that was collected using questionnaires. From the research it was established that leadership style inversely and significantly influences intention to leave of academic staff and hence there is need to embrace leadership style that promotes staff retention for these institutions to thrive.

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