The role of pedagogical leadership in enhancing academic staff job performance: the moderating effect of professional development programs

Purpose Persistent poor teaching, low research quality and weak staff motivation hinder Nigerian universities’ competitiveness. This study aims to examine the role of pedagogical leadership in improving academic staff performance, with a focus on the moderating effect of professional development programs. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a descriptive survey research design. The study used stratified and simple random sampling techniques so as to ensure that every member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the study. The population of the study consisted of the academic staff of the ten (10) universities in Kwara State, Nigeria, amounting to 38,236, while the sample size of 381 was determined through Krejcie and Morgan’s sample size formula. All the items of the questionnaire were adapted from past studies, and the questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The study employed descriptive statistics to analyze the profile of the respondents and items of the questionnaire, while inferential statistics via partial least squares were used to analyze the formulated hypotheses. Findings The results found that pedagogical leadership has a significant and positive effect on the academic staff’s job performance. And that professional development programs moderate the relationship between pedagogical leadership and academic staff job performance. Originality/value The originality of this study stems from the integration of professional development programs as a moderating variable on the relationship between pedagogical leadership and academic staff job performance, which has received very limited research attention, most especially in the Nigerian university setting.