Mentoring and Its Influence on Career Development of Academic Members of Selected Tertiary Institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigates the impact of mentoring on career development among academic members. Specifically, the study examines the means of fostering mentoring relationships and the challenges experienced by both mentors (Senior Academic Members) and Mentees (Junior Academic Members) in Nigerian tertiary institutions. One hundred academic staffs of University of Ibadan that have at least four years of teaching experience were purposively selected from the various faculties, while 60 academic staffs of the Polytechnic, Ibadan that have at least five years of teaching experience were purposively selected from the various faculties, totaling 160 respondents as a sample size for the study. Structured questionnaire was used to collect the data, while both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Result reveals that mentoring that exists in Nigerian tertiary institutions are mostly informal in nature, but has significant influence on career development of academics. However, this study indicates most of academic members have not benefited from mentoring due to the challenges embedded in mentoring. The study, therefore, recommends that management of tertiary institutions should seek to encourage mentors and mentees to develop strong relational quality as key component of successful mentorship.