CAREER ADVANCEMENT AND FINANCIAL SECURITY: TACKLING SUSTAINABLE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL ONE AMONG ACADEMIC STAFF IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The fundamental purpose of employment and career pursuits is to earn income to satisfy essential life needs, including
food, shelter, clothing, overall well-being, and the realisation of personal aspirations. However, there seems to persistent
disequilibrium between academic staff career path and their financial security. The job of academic staff is meant to
improve their lifestyle and financial security to promote Sustainable Development Goal One (SDG 1), which targets the
need to overcome poverty everywhere. The presence of financial insecurity may pose a deterrent to the achievement of this
goal among academic staff in Nigeria. This study therefore, investigates career advancement and financial security among
academic staff in Universities in Lagos state. A mixed-method research design, specifically the exploratory sequential
type, was adopted for this study. The population of the study consists of ten Universities in Lagos State, Nigeria. The
population of academic staff is 3197 from all the universities in Lagos State, Nigeria. The sample size for this study was
411. It was obtained using Taro Yemane’s sample size calculator. A Multistage Approach using purposive sampling
techniques was used for selecting academic staff in the universities. A questionnaire titled the "Career Advancement and
Financial Security of Academic Staff (CAPNFSAS)" was employed as the study's instrument. Cronbach's Alpha statistical
tool will be used to determine the internal consistency of the research instrument. Reliability coefficients of 0.75 pre-test
and 0.75 post-test were obtained for the ASCAQ. The data obtained from the field study were analysed using descriptive
and inferential statistics. Research questions were answered with the mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistical
tools, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to test Hypotheses 1,2, and Linear Regression was used to
test Hypothesis 3. All Hypotheses will be tested at the .05 level. The study discovered that promotion was significantly
associated with financial security, also research was found to improve financial security, while recognition was found not
to improve financial security and was significantly related among academic staff. However, it was recommended, among
others, that there is a need to revisit capacity-building and career advancement training programs for timely promotion,
grant-winning, and research writing to promote SDG 1 and reduce financial insecurity among academic staff in Nigeria.