Women academics' careers in Kenya

This thesis examined the experiences of women academics in relation to their family contribution, educational experiences and, factors that motivated them towards academia, while highlighting strategies that they have employed to reach their present professional and academic ranks. In addition, any challenges experienced by the women academics were explored. The study is a contribution to knowledge and the extant literature on women academics’ career experiences which has been under-researched, especially in Kenya. It claims to have made a contribution to a wider understanding of women academics’ experiences, exposing a significant impact of culture, family, work tensions, gender role expectations, male-dominated university cultures, and a lack of role models and mentors, which contribute to the slow progress of women academics’ careers in Kenyan universities. Using a qualitative research approach, the researcher used a face- to- face in- depth interviewing technique with sixteen women academics from three universities in Kenya while drawing from a feminist perspective. My aim was to create a dialogue on the lived experiences while at the same time using theory to inform and reflect on those experiences. With the use of thematic analysis, the data generated five themes; family socialisation, educational attributes, motivational factors, challenges and strategies. The findings of this research demonstrated that very few women have progressed into senior academic and professional ranks and that, the pace is slow. They continue to be hampered by socio-cultural attitudes towards women and their roles in Kenyan society. This is not the full story as some of the women interviewed reported that they had to put off marriage for career and likewise, others put on hold or postponed career for family responsibilities. To maintain their positions or climb the professional ladder, they therefore, had to employ a range of strategies such as; working hard, focusing on research and publication for promotion purposes. The wider implications of these findings are discussed

Influence of Parenting Styles on the Adolescent Students’ Academic Achievement in Kenyan Day Secondary Schools

The present study sought to establish the influence of parenting styles on adolescent academic achievement in day secondary schools in North Rachuonyo Sub-County, Kenya.  Baumrind’s theory of parenting style informed the study. The Concurrent Triangulation Design was used. The target population comprised 2409 day secondary students registered for KCSE in 2015 in 47 schools in Rachuonyo North Sub-County. The sample size comprised 263 secondary school students drawn from Sub-County day secondary schools. Ten Principals were randomly selected for interviews. Baumrid’s parenting styles questionnaire and interview schedule were used to collect the data from the students and principals respectively. Validity of the questionnaire was ensured by expertise judgement from university lecturers while reliability was determined by internal consistency and reliability coefficient of 0.718 was reported. Quantitative data was analysed using Regression analysis while qualitative data was analysed using Thematic Analysis. The study found that parenting styles statistically significantly predict academic performance of the adolescents, F (4, 242) = 43.529, p < .05, R2 = .630. The findings also suggest that independent variables (Authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, neglectful parenting style) explain (63.0%) of the variability of the dependent variable, (adolescents’ academic performance). The study recommended that teacher counsellors should identify at risk students from the parents susceptible of negative influence and offer appropriate therapy. Key words: Influence, Parenting Styles, Adolescent Students,’ Academic Achievement,  Kenyan, Day, Secondary School

The Self- Who Am I?: Children’s Identity and Development through Early Childhood Education

Children develop self-identity, who they believe themselves to be, and begin to form relationships through play and peer relations which contribute to their emotional, social and cognitive development. Theories of self generally agree that an early childhood program can foster children’s self- esteem and build the foundation for future relationships with others. From interviews and observations, 4 to 6 year olds portray their internal lives of self, construct their personal identity, and how these may affect the learning process. The sample was drawn from 3 pre-school classes in Kenya, consisting of 35 boys and 23 girls (N=58) Sampled expressions of self through children’s writings, drawings, dialogues and scaffolding tasks are discussed. The study makes reference to Vygotsky’s theoretical framework of social learning theory, highlighting the links between children’s learning, play, language, peer relationships and identity. The challenges for early childhood Education and Care are explored while trying to answer questions of identity facing young children such as, ‘Who am I?’ ‘What will I be when I grow up?’ Data from children’s expressions show that identity differs from one child to another, and that children’s self can be modified. The notion of ‘identities’ rather than an ‘identity’ emerged. The study indicates that children’s selves are shaped by local the environment, values, and each child’s unique development. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2015.v5n1p9

Relationship between Parenting Styles and Academic Adjustments among Selected Kenyan Secondary School Students

The present study examined the relationship between parenting styles and the academic adjustments among form one secondary school students in Nyaribari Chache Sub-County, Kisii County, Kenya. The study employed Expo-facto research design. The total numbers of secondary schools in the Sub-County were 30 while the entire population of grade nine secondary school students was 5480. The study used a sample of 548. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 15 secondary schools from the 30 schools in the sub-county. Stratified random sampling was also used to select respondents to reflect gender in each sampled school. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the form 1 students. The split-half method was used to determine reliability of questionnaires and a value of r=0.832 was reported. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and means, the inferential statistics such as Regression analysis was used to analyze data. The study findings were that parenting variables statistically significantly predicted academic adjustment, F (4, 95) = 32.347, p< .05, R2 = .661. The more parents were authoritative, the more likely the students were adjusting positively to new academic environment for good academic performance as shown by a positive (β=0.665).  Teacher counselors should seek ways to strengthen their relationship with the parents in order to gain a better understanding of their parenting styles and then handle each child according to the parenting style applied. Key words: Relationship, parenting styles, academic adjustments, form one, Kenyan secondary school student

Infrastructure A Major Barrier to Ecommerce Development and Adoption

Ecommerce (e-commerce) or electronic commerce is the purchasing, selling, and exchanging of goods and services over computer networks (such as the Internet) through which transactions or terms of sale are performed electronically. Ecommerce can be placed in several categories based on the parties involved in the transaction such as business to business or consumer to business. Use of technology enables buyers to purchase or sellers to access business market globally by use of internet though areas with no ICT infrastructure are faced with a lot of challenges ranging from lack of equipment, power connection and access to internet. Lack of ICT knowledge and skill, policies and laws to security concern are factors contributing to barriers to ecommerce development and adoption. The study in this research concentrated on lack of ICT infrastructure that denies most people universal access to internet that promotes use of ecommerce. The objective of the study was to; establish how lack of infrastructure affects adoption of ecommerce in rural areas  and  how lack of universal access to internet affects both buyer and seller. The study adopted a mixed methods paradigm with both quantitative and qualitative approaches (triangulation). Within the quantitative approach, the descriptive survey design was used, while within the qualitative approach, the exploratory   design was used.  Questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used for data collection. Quantitative data has been analyzed using basic descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as independent - sample test and Analysis of Variance. Qualitative data from interviews has been analyzed by using the thematic analysis. The study finding will be useful to customer to business(C2B),business to customer (B2C) and business to business(B2B) in variety of business activities. Significance of the study is that it highlights on; why many people engaged in various business activities have not embraced use of ecommerce  due to lack of  ICT infrastructure

Use of cellular phone contacts to increase return rates for immunization services in Kenya

Introduction: in Kenya, failure to complete immunization schedules by children who previously accessed immunization services is an obstacle to ensuring that children are fully immunized. Home visit approaches used to track defaulting children have not been successful in reducing the dropout rate.Methods: This study tested the use of phone contacts as an approach for tracking immunization defaulters in twelve purposivelyselected facilities in three districts of western Kenya. For nine months, children accessing immunization services in the facilities were tracked and caregivers were asked their reasons for defaulting.Results: in all of the facilities, caregiver phone ownership was above 80%. In 11 of the 12 facilities, defaulter rates between pentavalent1 and pentavalent3 vaccination doses reduced significantly to within the acceptable level of < 10%. Caregivers provided reliable contact information and health workers positively perceived phone-based defaulter communications. Tracking a defaulter required on average 2 minutes by voice and Ksh 6 ($ 0.07). Competing tasks and concerns about  vaccinating sick children and sideeffects were the most cited reasons for caregivers defaulting. Notably, a significant number of children categorised as defaulters had been vaccinated in a different facility (and were therefore "false defaulters").Conclusion: Use of phone contacts for follow-up is a feasible and costeffective method for tracking defaulters. This approach should complement traditional home visits, especially for caregivers without phones. Given communication-related reasons for defaulting, it is important that immunization programs scale-up  community education activities. A system for health facilities to share details of defaulting children should be established to reduce "false defaulters". Key words: Vaccination, immunization schedule, cell phones, defaulter tracking, Keny

Implementation of Server Virtualization Technology: The Human Resource capacity factors to consider.

Virtualization is gradually losing its image as a new, highly advanced technology and it is becoming a mainstream data management technique. Indeed, two-thirds of all organizations (whether IT is their core business or not) are implementing virtualization in live production and even for core applications. Thus, virtualization is no longer considered to be a risky or unreliable technology. The findings and recommendations of this study will be useful to IT managers and other IS policy makers in organizations intending to implement server virtualization. The results of this study identify key factors that will influence the success or failure of server virtualization in their organisations. As such they will be in a position to understand the server virtualization process and avoid the pitfalls that may face them. The study employed a correlational survey research design and targeted the chief information technology officers, information communication technology managers, Management information systems managers and other managers involved in policy making decisions on computing systems in the listed companies on the NSE. The target population consisted of 360 persons, and the sample size was 25% of the population, namely 89 persons. Primary data were collected in completing this study. Primary data is collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive and content analysis techniques were employed on the collected data. Quantitative data analysis was done by descriptive statistics by use of SPSS version 20.0 to obtain percentages, tabulations, means and other measures of central tendency. The analysis indicates that 97.5% of the respondents indicated that server consolidation minimizes wasted capacity. The study found out that 82% of corresponding change in the implementation of server virtualization technology induced human  resource capacity factors.  Test of overall significance ANOVA, at 0.05 level of significance and found the  model to be significant. The study recommends that organizations should develop proper infrastructure in order to keep up with the demands of the constantly evolving virtualized environment that runs their servers. Keywords: Technology, Server, Virtualization, Resourc

Assessment of pollution impacts on the ecological integrity of the Kisian and Kisat rivers in Lake Victoria drainage basin, Kenya

Macro-invertebrate assemblages were used as bioindicators to assess the ecological integrity of Rivers Kisat (influenced by urban development) and Kisian (influenced by agriculture) using community attributes and the Index of Biotic Integrity. Six stations, three per river, were selected to correspond to different impact types and intensities along the rivers. Physico-chemical parameters and nutrients were determined for each station on a monthly basis from November 2007 to April 2008. Two-way analysis of variance was used to compare water quality and nutrient parameters, and macro invertebrate community attributes between the two rivers, with the river and station as the main factors. Significant differences were accepted at 95% confidence level. There were inconsistencies in the variation of physico-chemical parameters along the two rivers. However, River Kisat recorded higher values for all physico-chemical parameters considered, except pH and DO. Different indices and metrics representing the structural and functional organization of macro invertebrates were computed and evaluated for responsiveness to physico-chemical parameters and nutrient levels. Macro invertebrate diversity, richness and evenness values failed to delineate stations according to the different levels of degradation they were experiencing. However, the differences were captured by the index of biotic integrity, which separated stations into different classes of quality. River Kisat stations in urban areas scored lowest index values, less than 15 out of 25, while two river Kisian stations scored the highest value, more than 19. The index provided evidence of response to changes in ecosystem integrity exhibited by resident macro invertebrate assemblages to pollution arising from both point and nonpoint sources.Key words: Urban rivers, water quality, physico-chemical parameters, macro invertebrates