This study concerns the leadership behavior of the deans of students in the four public universities of Kenya and their constituent colleges. Both the real and ideal versions of the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire and the demographic questionnaire developed under the auspices of faculty advisors were used to collect data from 10 deans of students, 55 student affairs staff members, and 130 student leaders--who constituted the sample of 195 who responded from the chosen population.
Data were analyzed using a series of one-way analyses of variance utilizing the f test of statistical difference. Fisher's least significant difference test, a multiple comparison procedure, was utilized to make all pairwise comparisons which were detected by the ANOVA to differ significantly from one-another among the respective mean ratings of the three groups surveyed.
Twelve hypotheses were developed and tested, and the major findings included: There were significant differences among the perceptions of the deans of students, student affairs staff members, and student leaders regarding the real and ideal leadership behavior of the deans of students concerning initiating structure and consideration--the two leadership dimensions surveyed on the questionnaire.
Some conclusions based on the findings included: (1) Deans of students and student affairs members view the leadership behavior differently on the real consideration dimension. (2) Deans of students and student leaders view the leadership behavior differently on the real initiating structure dimension. (3) Student affairs staff members and student leaders had the same views regarding the ideal leadership behavior of deans of students on both the consideration and initiating structure dimensions.
The study, compared with Chen's 1988 findings for similar universities in China, indicates a probable need to reexamine the role of the deans of students in order to be better able to meet the needs.
The dissertation includes a historical as well as a contemporary background of Kenyan university education.
