ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF MENTORING PROGRAMS ON CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF JUNIOR TEACHING STAFF: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM SELECTED PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Mentoring has long been acknowledged as an important component of strengthening organizational members' professional competence and progress. This study examines the concepts of career development of junior teaching staffs in Nigerian public universities, the effectiveness of mentoring programs practiced and its impact on career development of junior teaching staffs in Nigerian universities. This study adopted mixed method i.e quantitative and qualitative analysis. The information for this study came from a structured questionnaire, as well as web research and literature review. As a result of the study, career development can be defined as a sequence of actions or a continuous/lifelong process of building one's profession. Mentoring's ultimate purpose is to make sure that the right ways of doing things are passed along to the next generation. 70% of the 200 respondents confirmed that mentorship has positive impact on their career. 49.3% of the respondents who believed that mentoring is highly effective accepted that mentoring has positively impacted their career. Chi square value of 9.459 and p-value of 0.009 at 0.05 level of significance indicates that mentoring effectiveness has significant effect on career development of the respondents. Mentorship should be encouraged and introduced on a formal basis in universities, according to the recommendations. Departments also should publicly debate how to develop as well as provide mentoring for senior professors, with a centrally organized mentoring program office assisting in these talks and procedures.