DEMOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY AND PERFORMANCE OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Abstract

Workforce diversity plays a crucial role in enhancing university performance by leveraging employees’ experiences and knowledge, addressing skill gaps, broadening the talent pool, and increasing revenue through attracting more students. In this study the researcher looked into the effects caused by demographic diversity to performance at the private universities in DRC at Kinshasa. As the research followed a positivist philosophy, descriptive cross sectional design was adopted. The 29 private universities of Kinshasa had 2,366 employees as the target population. To obtain a sample of 341 respondents, a stratified sampling design was adopted to include the respondents, secretary generals in-charge of academics, research and administration, human resource managers, dean of faculties, heads of academics and non-academic divisions, professors, associate professors, senior lecturers. The process of collection of data was done by use of a structured questionnaire. Quantitative data have been processed using an SPSS version 27.0 Statistical Package of the Social Sciences. The results displayed that the performance of private universities and demographic diversity are mostly correlated in Kinshasa. It was found in the study that diversity in terms of age, gender, and other demographic characteristics should be maintained in all categories of the staff including top management in a university.