Avoidance Strategy and Performance of Academic Staff in Chartered Private Universities in Uganda: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

This study reviews the linkage between avoidance strategies and academic staff performance in chartered private Universities in Uganda. Based on empirical studies carried out in Ugandan private higher education institutions in the last decade, the paper synthesises the available evidence on the use of avoidance behaviour among the academic staff in tertiary institutions in response to work pressure, the impact of such behaviours on teaching effectiveness, the production of research and their overall professional performance. The review centers on four theoretical bases: Lazarus and Folkman's principles of Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, Vroom's Expectancy Theory, the Self-Determination Theory, and Administrative Management Theory. The study finds that avoidance strategies are common among academic staff of private universities in Uganda, citing numerous reasons such as workload, low remuneration, centralised organisation, poor performance monitoring and lack of institutional support, among others. They are consistently linked with the decreased quality of instruction, lower production of research, lower job satisfaction and higher turnover intentions. The review determines that avoidance is identified as a short-term coping mechanism, but as time goes on, avoidance carries drawbacks for individual and institutional performance and is therefore considered to be maladaptive. Policy, practice and further research implications are presented.