CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (H.E.Is): SURVEY OF PUBLIC & PRIVATE SECTOR UNIVERSITIES IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN.

Abstract

In Pakistan, universities have been experiencing conflict at alarming rate during the past few years. A number of conflicts have reached the court of law thus by losing a lot of time in litigation. Martial Law was imposed for more than half of its life in the country. The study of conflict management in this budding democracy is most relevant and appropriate. Within educational institutions especially, the influence of conflicts has affected the relations i.e. interpersonal and intergroup. The purpose of this research is to gain an insight into the conflict management in the Higher Education Institutions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Other variables were also included in the research to obtain a clear picture of conflict experience, types, sources and formal mechanism for the resolution of conflicts. A self-administered questionnaire with five point Likert scale was used. The data was then tabulated and analyzed by using t-test, ANOVA, Correlation and Regression. The most striking finding was that there was no formal mechanism at place in the HEIs to resolve the conflicts, which is making the conflict management a distant dream. Results indicate that conflict is intense in the public sector universities; Interpersonal conflict is more prevalent in public sector while task conflict is high in the private sector universities. Findings indicate that faculty in both types of universities use integrating, compromising and avoiding styles simultaneously in case of conflict. There is no significant difference in the conflict management strategies of both types of universities. Results of this study indicate the need for effective training on conflict management for educational administrators which will improve the conditions in the departments of HEIs. The study also revealed that the exercise of conflict management strategies hinges upon a variety of variables. Examples of these include gender, qualification, designation, age, experience, position and type of university.