An evaluation of contemporary leadership and governance challenges Research Paper

An evaluation of contemporary leadership and governance challenges among universities in Africa - Research Paper Example The study incorporates the university management, teaching staff and the workers together with students both of whom are actively involved in the whole process of research. The results of empirical investigation reveal numerous challenges in university leadership and governance most of which arise from improper financial management coupled with lack of vision. Other leadership and governance challenges arise from union and labour agitations, mismanagement of resources, human resource cum faculty motivation and productivity, leadership among the academic staff, corporate governance and the quality of their graduates. Analysis of the challenges strongly indicates that the environment in which these universities operate which tend to nurture and accommodate such vices possibly causes these challenges. This is manifested in various reasons manifested by university management for their lack of progress. It is therefore apparent that university leadership and management are not up to the c hallenges facing them and that they are not fully aware of their roles and responsibilities. This is because the possible cause of these challenges lies in the specialist nature of their leadership and governance, which is in them. ... ion The issue of leadership in the Centre of management of educational institutions is important in human resources and development since it covers all aspects of the organization. Leadership and governance is concerned with the execution of policies and decisions which determine whether an organization achieve its goals or not. The leadership and governance of the universities enjoys the status of dominance and prestige due to their ability to control and initiate development policies. African Universities’ governance is faced with challenges that have led to their slow growth and development over the decades compared to their counterparts in other continents. Several efforts have been put in place by respective governments and concerned bodies to improve on their status but it seems they have fallen short of intended outcomes. Several attempts have been made aimed at training and capacity building for the university leadership but challenges are still being witnessed on larg e scale. Basic among the governance challenges is the capacity to govern which is evident in most of the department within the university administration. This lack of capacity may result from lack of effective training of the workers and other university leaders before they commence their duties. Lack of effective training before and during the employment period is blamed to be the result of poor leadership and governance in the African universities. The politicized nature of most African states often results to university management being political appointees with less regards to qualifications in terms of education and integrity of the selected leaders. Financial challenge is real in most of the African universities due to little funding they receive form the government and other donor