Abstract:
Globally, there is fierce competition among students and academic staff of
both private and public universities; therefore, some private universities have
adopted survival strategies to share in the higher education market. This study
investigates enrolment strategies that mediate the relationship between
academic staff retention and enrolment performance in three chartered private
universities in Ghana. Also, it investigates the challenges that confront these
chartered private universities and the switching intentions of the academic
staff. Random sampling and purposive techniques are used to select the
sample size of 287, representing 63% of the academic staff from the selected
institutions. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using the
sequential mixed-methods approach. Linear Structural Relation - Structural
Equation Model (LISREL-SEM) was used to test hypotheses about the
mediating variables. Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to rank the
challenges, and Binary Logit (BL) was employed to analyse academic staff
switching intentions. The qualitative data were analysed using a thematic
approach to derive the content of responses. Findings of the study reveal that
collaboration and innovation mediate the relationship between staff retention
strategy and enrolment performance. The findings also suggest that pricing
(tuition fee) might not affects students‘ enrolment. Management should,
therefore, support innovative admission activities to improve enrolment
performance. Also, leadership style and remuneration are predictors most
likely to influence staff switching intentions. Therefore, management of
institutions selected for the study need to collaborate with their academic staff
and invest in research to determine the niche areas of their institutions for
better linkages and collaboration with other universities to mitigate the effects
of fierce competition for students.
