ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Community engagement has been acknowledged as a core function of higher education, along with research and teaching which helps in promoting economic, environmental and socio-cultural development of communities. This article explores the barriers obstructing community engagement activities in Nigerian higher education. Kwara State University, Malete, being an institution with the philosophy of community development is an interesting case in this study. Using in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews, nine professors of the university were asked to reflect on how they develop academic career through community engagement activities. From data analysis, even though there is documentary evidence on the remarkable successes been achieved and reported with regard to community engagement activities and outreaches by the professors which help to sustain professional identities and, in turn, career development. Four factors were found as a barrier obstructing the professors’ participation in community engagement activities and outreaches. These were, (a) Educational gap between professors and community members, (b) lack of funds to execute community development projects, (c) time constraint due to multiple engagements, and (d) resistant to change by community members. This study discussion and recommendations are timely, as it concludes with a number of crucial issues that future on community engagement in Nigerian higher education need to address.
Adesola, A. O. (1991). The Nigerian university system: meeting the challenges of growth in a depressed economy. Higher Education, 21(1): 121-133.
Adesomoju, A. (2008). Attracting Grants from the organized Private Sector in Postgraduate Research and Development. A paper presented at the 4th National Workshop of Committee of Deans of Postgraduate Schools in Nigerian Universities, on Involvement of Industries and the organized Private Sector in Postgraduate Research for National Development. Abuja, 16-17 April, 2008.
Ahmed, T, Umar, K. & Paul, C. (2015). Analysis of Factors Enhancing Pitfall in Research and Teaching of the Nigerian University System. International Journal of Higher Education, 4(3): 82-89.
Akpan, C. P., Archibong, I. A. & Undie, J. A. (2011). Lecturers’ Access to Research Fund in Nigerian Universities: Challenges and Strategies for Improvement. Available at http://socioumane.ro/blog/analesocioumane/files/2011/04/Akpan-Archibong-Undie.pdf. Retrieved on March 27, 2016.
Akinyemi, S. & Potokri, O. C. (2016). Inequitable access to the knowledge market in Nigeria: The case of university education. Industry and Higher Education, 30(6): 424-432.
Alston, M. & Bowles, W. (2003). Research for social workers: an introduction to methods, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, NSW, Australia.
Bako, S. (2005). Universities, Research and Development in Nigeria: Time for Paradigmatic Shift. Paper prepared for the 11th General Assembly of CODESRIA on Rethinking African Development beyond Impasse: Towards Alternatives. Maputo, Mozambique, 6th – 8th December.
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Bloomgarden, A. H. & O’meara, K. (2007). Faculty Role Integration and Community Engagement: Harmony or Cacophony? Michigan Journal of Community and Service Learning, MicSpring 2007, 5-18.
Buys, N., & Bursnall, S. (2007). Establishing university–community partnerships: Processes and benefits. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 29(1), 73-86.
Campus Compact (2003). Campus Compact Annual Membership Survey, 2003. Available at http://www.compact.org/ about/statistics/2003/service-learning_development, Retrieved on June 14, 2017.
Centre for Economic and Community Development, Penne College of Agricultural Science (2017). The role and importance of building trust. Available at http://aese.psu.edu/research/centers/cecd/engagement-toolbox/role-importance-of-building-trust. Retrieved on May 3, 2017.
Chatterton, P. (2000). The cultural role of universities in the community: revisiting the university-community debate. Environment and Planning A, 32(1): 165-182.
Cuthill, M., & Brown, A. (2010). Sceptics, utilitarians and missionaries: Senior managers’ perceptions of engagement in a research intensive Australian university. Australasian Journal of University–Community Engagement, 5(2): 126-146.
Das, T. H. (1983). Qualitative research in organizational behavior. Journal of Management Studies, 20(3), 301-314.
Donwa, P. A. (2006). Funding of Academic Research in Nigerian Universities. A paper presented at the UNESCO forum on Higher Education Research and Knowledge creation. November 29-December 1, 2006. Available at http://portal.unesco.org/educationfr/files. Retrieved on July 8, 2017.
Egwunyenga, E. J. (2008). Dystrophies and Associated Crisis in Research and Academic Publication in Nigerian Universities. Anthropologist, 10(4): 245-250.
Fafunwa, A. B. (2004). History of education in Nigeria. Ibadan: NPS Educational Publisher Ltd.
FGN. (2004). National policy on education (4th ed.). Abuja: Nigerian: Federal Government of Nigeria.
Gloria, A. M. (1997). Chicana Academic Persistence Creating a University-Based Community. Education and Urban Society, 30(1): 107-121.
Gorski, I. & Metha, K. (2016). Engaging Faculty across the Community Engagement Continuum. Journal of Public Scholarship in Higher Education, (6), 108-123.
Holland,
In-Text Citation: (Adekalu, Suandi, Krauss, & Ismail, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Adekalu, S. O., Suandi, T., Krauss, S. E., & Ismail, I. A. (2018). Challenges Obstructing Academic’s Career Experience in Community Engagement Practice: The Nigerian Universities Experience. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(12), 109–122.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode