COMPOSITE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTORSHIP AND EARLY CAREER PERFORMANCE OF ACADEMIC STAFF IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between mentorship and early career performance of academic staff in universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. One research question and hypothesis were raised and tested in the study. The correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 1,677 early academic staff from the two public universities in Cross River State. Stratified sampling was used to select 570 academic staff from the two universities as sample for this study. One instrument tagged “Mentorship and Early Career Performance of Academic Staff Questionnaire (MECPASQ” was used for data collection. The items used for the study were faced-validated by experts in Educational Management and Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability of the items was established using Cronbach reliability method the reliability estimates ranged between .74 to .92. Multiple Hierarchical Linear Regression analysis and Multiple Linear Regression analysis were used for data analysis. The results of the analysis revealed that mentorship on research and publication, mentorship on student evaluation, mentorship on team teaching, mentorship on management of students’ record, and mentorship on classroom management individually and jointly predicted early career performance of academic staff in universities in Cross River State significantly. The management of public universities in Cross River State should make team teaching a culture in the universities, as this will help inexperienced academic staff acquire all the competencies they need to perform their roles effectively in the institutions.