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Academic staff mentoring as a correlate of job performance
among new entrants in HEI  

Ekemezie, C. A., & Agama, A. M.

Chief Lecturer,  Lecturer; Federal College of Education (Technical),

Umunze (in Affiliation with Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka-Nigeria

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Abstract

This study is motivated primarily by an emerging trend observed in the Nigerian HEIs i.e., the changing workforce demographics, with its attendant consequences on educational standards. Considering the available evidences supporting the influence of mentoring on job performance in other sectors, these researchers found it worthwhile to investigate the mentoring practices in Nigerian HEIs to ascertain the relationship between mentoring and job performance of newly employed academic staff. The objectives of the study are: (1) determine the current mentoring practices in Nigerian HEIs; (2) ascertain the relationship between academic staff mentoring and job performance (proxied by task performance, contextual performance, and counterproductive work behavior) of newly employed academic staffs; and (3) determine the most appealing and effective mentoring strategies for optimizing the job performance of newly employed academic staffs. Given the objective of the study, –to ascertain the relationship between mentoring and job performance of newly employed academic staff– a correlational research design was employed in the study. A sample of 60 academic staff was drawn from a population of 182 newly employed academic staff of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Umunze. Mentoring was found to be significantly (and positively) correlated with task performance and contextual performance of newly employed academic staffs, whereas the relationship between mentoring and counterproductive work behavior was not significant. Other interesting findings from the descriptive statistics tests are also reported. Among the recommendations put forward is the need to establish a formal mentoring programme as part of the integration process of newly employed academic staff in the higher educational institutions in Nigeria.
Key Words: Mentoring, employee integration, job performance, higher education, academic staff

Cite this article
APA 7th Edition

Ekemezie, C. A., & Agama, A. M. (2023). Academic staff mentoring as a correlate of job performance among new entrants in HEI. Shodh Sari-An International Multidisciplinary Journal, 02(02), 50–69. https://doi.org/10.59231/SARI7574

 

MLA 9th Edition

Ekemezie, Cecilia Amuche, and Adoga Matthew Agama. “Academic Staff Mentoring as a Correlate of Job Performance Among New Entrants in HEI.” Shodh Sari-An International Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 02, no. 02, Apr. 2023, pp. 50–69. https://doi.org/10.59231/SARI7574.

 

Chicago Style

Ekemezie, Cecilia Amuche, and Adoga Matthew Agama. “Academic Staff Mentoring as a Correlate of Job Performance among New Entrants in HEI.” Shodh Sari-An International Multidisciplinary Journal 02, no. 02 (April 17, 2023): 50–69. https://doi.org/10.59231/SARI7574.

About The Author
 1) DR. C. A. Ekemezie is a Chief lecturer in the School of Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Umunze, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Her academic qualifications include National Certificate in Education (NCE) from Anambra State College of Education, Awka, Nigeria; B.Ed. elementary Education from University of Calabar, Nigeria. M.Ed. and Ph,D in Educational Management from Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria.  In addition to her scholarly responsibilities, she has held several leadership positions within the college some of which include Coordinator of Pre-NCE Programme, HOD Department of Educational Management and Policy, Coordinator of Sandwich Programme, HOD Primary Education and she is presently the Director of Professional Diploma in Education (PDE). She has published numerous articules in both local and international journals. 

2) Adoga Matthew Agama (PhD in view) is an educator, researcher, consultant, and an author. He is a Lecturer with the department of Educational Management and Policy, Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, in affiliation with Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. His educational qualifications include: a Bachelors degree in Business Administration, Masters in Management Studies, Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Professional Diploma in Marketing, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, After his masters degree 9 years ago, he was in the industry for a few years before joining higher education sector as a lecturer in a teacher-training institution affiliated to a leading university in the Nigeria where he has been teaching and researching for over more than 7 years. Over the course of his career in the academia, he has published several articles in reputable journals including SCOPUS indexed journals. He is currently pursuing his doctoral studies in management, specializing in entrepreneurship in Nigeria’s foremost university –University of Nigeria.
 

Impact Statement

This study is motivated by an observed trend that could threaten the standard and quality if higher education in Nigerian –the changing workforce demographics. The findings of this study provide evidence of inadequate and ineffective mentoring programmes in Nigerian HEIs which is threatening the standard and quality of eructation in the country. The authors strongly suggest the establishment of a functional, formal (or semi-formal) mentoring programme as part of the integration process of newly employed academic staff into Nigerian HEIs. This will help address two critical issues identified in this study i.e., the issues of lack of mentoring and that of ineffective mentoring practices. Institutionalizing a mentoring programme that mandates every newly employed academic to participate in the programme –as part of their onboarding and integration process– will significantly contribute to maintain and improving the standard and quality of education in the country.

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