JOB CONCERN FACTORS AND ACADEMIC STAFF ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES, LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw

Job concern is a key element in workplace functioning, shaping the degree of employee engagement. This study examines job concern factors—workload, job hazard, and interpersonal discrimination—and their links with academic staff engagement in public universities in Lagos State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design guided the analysis, with 250 randomly selected academic staff and a self-constructed questionnaire. Inferential tests (t-test, correlation, chi-square) indicate low engagement, no link between workload and engagement, but significant associations with job hazard and interpersonal discrimination, alongside no engagement difference between Federal and State universities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Concept of job concern

Definition of engagement

Factors affecting academic staff engagement

Prior studies and related job concerns

JOB CONCERN FACTORS AND ACADEMIC STAFF ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES, LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA MARUFF AKINWALE OLADEJO AZEEZAT TEMITOPE KAREEM MULIKAT OMOLADE GHANNI University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria ABSTRACT Job concern is a common element in any work organization. It is, no doubt, capable of determining the extent to which an employee is engaged with thejob. This study therefore investigated job concernfactors (namely workload, job hazard, and interpersonal discrimination) and academic staff engagement in public universities in Lagos State, Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Five null-hypotheses, tested at .05 level of significance, guided the study. Participants were 250 randomly selected academic staff from two purposively selected public universities in Lagos State. A self-constructed questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using inferential statistics, specifically One Sample t-test, Pearson ProductMoment Correlation, Pearson Chi Square, and Independent t-test respectively. Findings showed that in public universities in Lagos State, Nigeria, the level of academic staff engagement was low [t (249) = 230.15, p>0.05]. No significant relationship wasfound between workload and employee engagement [r (248) = -.611; p >0.05]. Further finding showed that employee engagement was significantly related to job hazard [r (248) = .502, p< 0.05]. There was also significant relationship between interpersonal discrimination and employee engagement [r (248) = . 721; p <0.05]. Finally, there was no significant difference in employee engagement among academic staff in Federal and State Universities [t (249) = 3.122, p > 0.05]. It was recommended that Government and institutional administrators should ensure that the working environment is made more conducive for scholarly works, employ more qualified staff, and avoid interpersonal discrimination among academic staff. INTRODUCTION Job concern is a common element in any work organization. It is a source of tension and frustration which can arise through a number of interrelated influences on behavior, including individual, group, organizational, and environmental factors. According to Akpovi (as cited in Okoh & Ujuju, 2011), any situation that is seen as burdensome, threatening, ambiguous, or boring is likely to induce job concern for employees. This is the type of situation that would normally strike the individual as deserving immediate attention as it is viewed as unfortunate or annoying. Berwick (2013) described job concern as employees’ reactions to characteristics of the work environment that seem emotionally and physically threatening. It points to a poor fit between the individual’s capabilities and his or her work environment, in which excessive demands are made of the individual or the individual is not fully prepared to handle a particular situation. In general, the higher the imbalance between demands and the individual’s abilities, the higher will the employee experiences job concern. Job concern often shows high dissatisfaction among the employees, work mobility, burnout, poor job performance, and less employee engagement at work (Teniibiaje, 2013) . Job concern, no doubt, is likely to determine the extent to which an employee is engaged in work organization. How much one is engaged with one’s job can be a product of the types of concerns Educational Planning 57 Vol. 26, No. 4 one experiences in one’s work place. In other words, job concerns and employee engagement, especially as relate to academic staff is a study that should be continuously investigated. Engagement generally is a positive attitude where an individual goes above and beyond the call of duty, so as to heighten the level of ownership, and to further the business interest of the organization as a whole (Erkutlu, 2014) . By employee engagement, Lockwood (2014) conceptualized it as the individual’s investment of his complete selfi

FAQs

What job concern factors does the study investigate?

The study investigates workload, job hazard, and interpersonal discrimination as job concern factors and examines how they relate to academic staff engagement.

How does workload relate to academic staff engagement in the findings?

The findings show no significant relationship between workload and employee engagement in public universities in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Which factors show a significant relationship with engagement?

Employee engagement is significantly related to job hazard and to interpersonal discrimination.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw