Abstract
There is sparse empirically supporting information on explanatory dimensions influencing community members' participation in university-community engagement. An insight into these dimensions could provide an invaluable starting point for designing suitable community development interventions. This study investigates the dimension that influences Rwenzori local community members' engagement with Mountains of the Moon university in Uganda. Community members' engagement participation was examined with three dimensions: personal factors: (tribe, gender, age, beliefs, previous engagement experience), process factors (level of involvement, engagement focus, engagement approach), and community-level factors (nature of the economic activity, community trust, access to resources). The survey was administered to (n = 100) community members engaged with Mountains of the Moon university. These were selected through simple random and purposive sampling. A Partial Least Squares- structural equation modelling analysis technique was used to test the research model using Smart PLS (v3) software. The study findings significantly supported the paths from process factors and community-level elements to community members' engagement participation. The findings, however, showed that personal factors have no significant direct effect on community members' engagement participation. Therefore, the authors recommend that universities, organisations, and policymakers pay more attention to the process factors and the community-level elements to enhance participation. Future research should investigate the variables studied with a broader sample and/or in a different context to generalise the results.
Author Information
Nanyanzi Alice Sheila, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Chang Zhu, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Mugenyi Justice Kintu, Mountains of the Moon University, Uganda
Kabazira Dinah, Mountains of the Moon University, Uganda
Leo Van Audenhove, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Paper Information
Conference: ECE2023
Stream: Education
This paper is part of the ECE2023 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Sheila N., Zhu C., Kintu M., Dinah K., & Audenhove L. (2023) An Empirical Test of Dimensions That Influence Community Members’ Engagement With a University in Uganda ISSN: 2188-1162 The European Conference on Education 2023: Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2023.36
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2023.36
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