ABSTRACT
The study examined the association between academic mentorship and lecturers’ performance in tertiary educational institutions in Bayelsa State. The basic aim of the study was to determine the link between academic mentorship practices (active listening, collaborative learning, shared experience, and corrective feedback) on lecturers performance. The study utilized data collected from a sample of Three Hundred and thirty-four (334) junior staff, drawn from a population of two thousand and thirty (2,030) junior staff from six tertiary educational institutions in Bayelsa state. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data. The validity of the instrument was determined through experts’ opinion; while its reliability was confirmed through the test re-test reliability technique. The Spearman Rank Correlation served as the test statistic, relying on the SPSS. The results of the study showed that is a positive and statitiscally significant correlation exists between academic mentorship and lecturers’ performance. The results indicate that active listening, collaborative learning, shared experience and corrective feedback relates to lecturers’ performance with coefficients of 0.800, 0.500, 0.894, 0.783 respectively. The study concludes that academic mentoring drives leturers’ performance; and that improved skills, intelligence and quality of delivery of lessons that demonstrate lecturers’ performance follows from academic mentoring. The study thus recommends that universities that desire improved lecturers’ performance should institute mentoring programs that provide staff with experience and expertise that enhances their capacity to deliver on academic tasks and responsibilities and their career advancement. Keywords: Academic mentorship, active listening, collaborative learning, corrective feedback, lecturers performance, shared experiences