Human resource development drivers for university-industry collaboration: Empirical evidence from universities in Kenya

Abstract

The study leans towards the human capital development nature of universities and applies the philosophy of human resource development to explain the phenomenon of University-Industry Collaboration (U-C-I) in Kenya. The study reports the findings of an empirical research investigating the patterns of U-I-C and the human resource develpment (HRD) driving factors for the identified patterns of collaboration in Kenya using data gathered from 16 universities both public and private. The findings of the study reveal a significant correlation between the Motivation to pursue Collaboration and the Level of U-I-C among key decision makers in universities in Kenya (n=16; r=492; p<0.05). While the findings provide an empirical explanation on the Motivation, Level and Types of collaboration prevailing in Kenya together with the managerial issues universities need to address in order to strengthen links with the productive sector, they strengthen the call for future research to focus on strategic HRD issues offering a viable pillar for supporting U-I-C