IMPACT OF ECONOMIC HARDSHIP ON THE JOB PERFORMANCE OF ACADEMIC STAFF IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR SCIENCE EDUCATORS

Abstract

The paper examined the impact of economic hardship on the job performance of academic staff in Nigerian universities, implications for science educators. It examined the impact of economic hardship on the job performance of academic staff in Nigerian universities with a focus on how it affects their teaching, research, and contributions to science education. The paper reviewed secondary data, which were collected from print and online publications. Content analysis was used in the study. The study revealed that that economic hardship affected the implementation of teaching programme of the academic staff, which is one of their cardinal functions in the universities. It also discovered that the research and science education contributions of the academic staff were negatively affected because of high living standard in the country. Based on these findings, the paper, suggest that addressing economic hardship is essential to improving job performance and enabling science educators to fulfill their role in fostering innovation and critical thinking in students. Recommendations were made for better funding, policy reforms, and university-industry partnerships to mitigate these challenges and enhance the overall quality of science education. In addition, increment in the salaries and allowances of academic staff of Nigerian universities should be consider as it relate to the present standard of living in the country among others recommendation.