Individual Factors and Micro-Environment as Predictors of Research Skills of Female Doctoral Students at Makerere University

Leech (2012) put forward a model with four predictors which explain who a knowledgeable and skilled researcher is. Based on Leech's model, the study aimed to test whether two of them (the individual and micro environment) were predictors of the research skills of female doctoral students in Makerere University (Mak). From the model, two hypotheses (H1-H2) were developed. That is, H1, which postulated that Individual Factors (IF), and H2, which postulated that the Micro-Environment (ME), both positively predicted research skills (RS) of female doctoral students in Mak. RS was operationalised as Creativity (Cr) and Readiness to do Research and to Write (RRW) for publication. Similarly, the two predictors (IR & ME) had four constructs each. Taking a positivist approach, cross-sectional and correlation designs, data were collected from 57 female doctoral students who filled out a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis involved computation of descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple linear regression (MLR). Results revealed that two of the constructs of IF (Thinking Style [TS]; & Self-Efficacy [SE]) were significant positive predictors of RS, against the constructs of Motivation (M) and Personality (P), which were not. One construct of ME (Supervisor [Sup]) was a significant positive predictor of RS, while three others (Culture of the Department on Graduate Education [CDE]; Other Faculty [OF & Peers [Pe]) were not. Thus, of the eight sub-hypotheses, three were supported, meaning that Leech's model only offered a fair explanation of RS in Mak. Thus, a call for further research to explore all the predictors as put forward by Leech’s model in other contexts