Abstract
Teaching members of two South African and two Nigerian universities were asked to rate the importance of four roles in their jobs; teaching, administration, research, and character building of students. The Nigerian lecturers rated teaching and character building as more important than did the South African lecturers, who rated research as more important than did the Nigerian lecturers. In both countries the emphasis on research was positively related to the prestige and size of the university; while that on teaching and character building was greater in both countries among lecturers in the humanities than among those in the natural sciences. The results are interpreted in the light of the growing conflict faced by lecturers between the research role (to secure promotion, tenure, and salary increments) and the teaching and character development roles (to satisfy students).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnold, G.Nigeria. London: Longman, 1977.
Verelson, B.Graduate Education in the United States. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.
Brandis, R. The rehabilitation of university undergraduate teaching.The Educational Record 1964,45 56–63.
Caplow, T., and McGee, R. J.The Academic Market Place. New York: Basic Books, 1958.
Cohen, R.Labour and Politics in Nigeria. London: Heinemann, 1974.
Coleman, J. C.Nigeria. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
Crane, D. Scientists at major and minor universities; a study of productivity and recognition.American Sociological Review 1965,30 699–714.
Demachi, V.Nigerian Modernization. London: Cassell, 1975.
Freedman, M.; Kanzer, P.; and Carr, R.Attitudes of Faculty to Student Power and Militancy. San Francisco: Francisco State College Press, 1970.
Glenn, N. D., and Villemez, W. The productivity of scholars at 45 American universities.American Sociologist 1970,5 244–52.
Halsey, A. H., and Trow, M.The British Academics. London: Faber, 1960.
Horwitz, R.The Political Economy of South Africa. London: Seidenfeld and Nicholson, 1970.
House, R. J., and Rizzo, J. R. Role conflict and ambiguity as critical variables in a model of organizational behaviour.Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance 1972,7 467–505.
Kahn, R. L.; Wolfe, D. M.; Quinn, R. P.; Snoek, J. D.; and Rosenthal, R. A.Organizational Stress: Studies in Role Conflict and Ambiguity. New York: Wiley, 1964.
Kelly, R., and Hart, B. D. Professor role preferences of entering college students and their parents.Journal of Educational Research 1969,63 150–51.
—— Role preference of faculty in different age groups and academic disciplines.Sociology of Education 1971,44 351–57.
Klapper, H. L. The young college faculty member: a new breed?Sociology of Education 1969,42 38–49.
Knapp, R. Changing functions of a college professor. In N. Sanford (ed.),The American College New York: Wiley, 1962, pp. 290–311.
Malherbe, E. G.Education in South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta, 1971.
Marquard, L.Peoples and Policies of South Africa. London: Oxford University Press, 1970.
Orpen, C., and Morse, S. J.Contemporary South Africa: Social Psychological Perspectives. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta, 1976.
Parsons, T., and Platt, G. M. Considerations on the American academic system.Minerva 1967,6 497–523.
Pogue, F. G. Student ratings of the ideal professor.Improving College and University Teaching 1967,15 133–36.
Scott, J. W., and El-Assel, M. University size, university quality, and student protest.American Sociological Review 1969,34 702–709.
Smythe, J., and Smythe, J. W.Education in Nigeria. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970.
Thompson, L. M.Politics in the Republic of South Africa. Boston: Little, Brown, 1966.
Williams, G.; Blackstone, T.; and Metcalfe, D.The Academic Labour Market. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1974.
Yamamoto, K., and Dizney, H. F. Eight professors: a study of college student preferences among their teachers.Journal of Educational Psychology 1976,57 146–50.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Orpen, C. How much role conflict is there in the job of university lecturer? An international comparison. Res High Educ 17, 321–332 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00977900
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00977900