Precarious Working Conditions in Nigeria’s Higher Education: The Role of Psychological Ownership and Servant Leadership

Abstract

Despite concerns about the persistent Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike and deteriorating working conditions in Nigerian universities, limited empirical attention has been given to the potential of psychological ownership (PO) and servant leadership (SL) mechanisms to mitigate their effects. This study examines whether SL promotes a sense of ownership that buffers the negative effects of precarious work on organisational citizenship behaviours (OCB) towards academics (OCB-A) and the university (OCB-U). This study employed a multidimensional measure of SL and PO to describe and explain their relationships with the OCB-A/U in the academic population across six geopolitical zones of the Nigerian Federation. The cluster sample was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, employing PLS-SEM. The findings indicate that when academics (subordinates) feel a sense of ownership, they are motivated to support the organisation’s vision. The study further affirms that when a leader demonstrates genuine care for their followers’ wellbeing, followers respond strongly by assisting colleagues or even superiors in completing tasks or resolving issues. However, the leader conducts (community interest) that prioritises taking the community’s interests outside of the immediate organisation into consideration, which does not significantly affect OCB-A. It was discovered that if academics internalise their sense of “mine-ness” toward their university, they will exhibit increased discretionary engagement (altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, civic virtue, and sportsmanship) beyond their formal job expectations.