Supervisory Relationships and their Impact on the Well-being of Academic Staff at Makerere University

Abstract

This study examined the perception of supervisory relationships on the academic staff’s well-being at Makerere University in terms of engagement, mentoring, assessment of skills, and recognition. Following the pragmatist research paradigm and a cross-sectional survey design, a mixed-method approach based on a convergent parallel design was used to manage data. Quantitative data was collected using self-administered questionnaires from 286 academic staff proportionally drawn from three colleges and one school, while qualitative data was obtained from four heads of departments using a structured interview guide. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive (frequencies, %ages, and means) and inferential statistics (correlations using the Pearson correlation coefficient, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and simple linear regression). The qualitative data was analysed through thematic and content analysis inductively. Later, both data sets converged during interpretation to obtain common implications about each objective. A statistically significant positive correlation was established between well-being and supervisory relationship (r = .422, n = 284, p < .000). The effect was established through a simple regression analysis, which reflected the adjusted r2 = .176, which implied that the supervisory relationship contributes 17.6% to the academic staff well-being and this assertion was well confirmed by the qualitative information. Supervisory relationships are an important predictor of academic staff well-being. Therefore, the management of the university should support and encourage supervisory relationships by initiating and developing policies and practices that aim at enhancing the well-being of academic staff