An investigation of the factors that influence students’ participation in strike actions. A case study of year two students at the School of Statistics and Planning

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the factors that influence students’ participation in strike actions in Makerere University and given its population size the scope was further downed to School of Statistics. This study was cheered up by the need to find out why Makerere students are continuously involved in strike actions that have on several occasions caused the University to be closed down indefinitely. The objectives of this study were to investigate the factors that influence student strikes, the effects of strike actions, the relationship between participation in strikes and gender of the student, the relationship between residence and participation in strikes and the relationship between program of study and participation in strikes. The researcher adopted a sample survey design which was appropriate because of the cross-sectional nature of data that was collected as is implied in the research objectives. The population of the study comprised of 400 participants that included 91 undergraduate students at school of statistics.

The investigation showed that majority of the respondents were females (53.8%), and then most respondents were between 21-23 years of age (75.8%), this is because most students in year two are within that age group. Many respondents were Catholics (31.7%) and Protestants (37.4%), and most of them were private students (57.1%). Furthermore, most of the respondents were students of bachelor of statistics (42.9%) and most responses were from non-resident students. The age of respondents, residence, nature of sponsorship, gender, religion, and the program of study were not significantly associated with one’s participation in strikes. However, the factors that cause strikes in Makerere University were the same for both the respondents that have participated in a strike and those that have never participated in any strike. To sum it up, all the respondents agreed that the effects of strike actions were also the same for both the participants in strikes and the non-participants.