INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)  
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue XI November 2025  
Mentoring Skills and Career Progression of Business Educators in  
Colleges of Education in South-West, Nigeria  
Enijuni, Anthony Tola (Ph.D) & Ogunleye, Funmilola Mary (Ph.D)  
Department of Business Education, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and  
Technology Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State Nigeria  
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.51244/IJRSI.2025.12110137  
Received: 01 December 2025; Accepted: 07 December 2025; Published: 19 December 2025  
ABSTRACT  
This study investigated the relationship between mentoring skills and career progression of business educators  
in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria. To guide the study four research questions were raised and four  
hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted correlational survey  
research design. A population of 122 business educators was used for the study which also served as sample of  
the study. The research instrument used was a structured questionnaire titled “Mentoring skills and Career  
Progression Questionnaire (TWCDQ). The questionnaire was segmented into two parts. Part A and B. Part A  
consisted of the demographic variables of the respondents such as ownership of colleges of education and sex.  
Part B was grouped into sub-section 1 and 2 that measured the relevant variables of business educators’  
mentoring skills and career progression. Cronbach Alpha statistics was used to determine the reliability of the  
instrument which yielded a coefficient of 0.73 and 0.75 for mentoring skills and career progression respectively.  
The instrument was validated by three experts from department of Business Education, Bamidele Olumilua  
University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State. Pearson Product Moment Correlation  
Coefficient was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the study indicated that  
mentoring skills is significantly related to career progression of business educators. It was concluded that  
mentoring is significantly related to career progression of business educators. Based on the study, it was  
recommended that deliberate effort should be made by management of college of education to design and  
promote mentorship programme that will enhance career progression of business educators.  
Keywords: Writing skills, Communication skills, Collaborative skills, Career progression  
INTRODUCTION  
Business educators are lecturers that teach students courses that are business related, including Accounting,  
Marketing, Office Technology and Management in tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics and colleges  
of education) in Nigeria. Business educators in colleges of education are responsible for training and imparting  
knowledge into the would-be teachers of business studies and other related business subjects for the primary and  
junior secondary school levels of education in Nigeria. Business educators contribute to national economic  
growth and development in the educational industry. Osuala, in Nwokike and Okoli (2015), presented the  
objectives of business education as follows: (i) to teach all students the discriminative quality of choice of goods  
and services that business has to be able to provide. (ii) to help foster in the students interest in/of the different  
occupations that can be encountered in the business world. (iii) to impart in every student the working method  
of cognising and feeling the real working of the economic system. (iv) to assist the students to learn simple skills  
in the business occupations as novices who are likely to pursue business as a profession. (v) to equip students to  
join and achieve success in business careers as new entrants who anticipate pursuing business as a vocation. The  
attainment of these objectives, require adequate mentoring of business educators.  
Mentoring is a personal relationship in which knowledgeable employee helps to guide the upcoming newly  
employed employee. Mentoring is also a process of serving as a mentor for someone by facilitating and assisting  
the person’s development (Bozman, 2018). Mentoring is crucial for building competencies in business education,  
such as leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving skills highly sought after by employers (Oladele, 2023).  
Page 1556  
www.rsisinternational.org  
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)  
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue XI November 2025  
mentoring facilitates the transfer of knowledge, skills, and experiences from mentors to mentees, enhancing  
business educator’ readiness for the competitive job market (Ragins, 2017). Effective mentoring offers guidance,  
career counseling, and professional insights that shape business educator' career trajectories, boosting their  
confidence and equipping them with skills relevant to their field of study (Allen & Eby, 2011). When properly  
implemented, mentoring can enhance job performance and support career progression of young business  
educators (Onifade, 2023).  
Career progression is an improvement in the position of employees who put in an effort to gain necessary skills  
and upgrade their performance. Career progression refers to the advancement an individual makes in their  
professional life, typically, involving growth in responsibilities, skills and compensation. Career progression of  
business educators, passes through several stages before they peak at the highest level. In the case of college of  
education, for example, business educators typically start as Lecturer III with a First Degree in the relevant areas  
of specialization, such as Accounting, Office Technology and Marketing. Holders of Master’s degree start as  
Lecturer II, while a PhD holders start as Lecturer I. From here, they are expected to proceed to Senior Lecturer,  
Principal Lecturer and Chief Lecturer depending on the number of publications they possess. It takes at least  
three years to move from one cadre to the other. The job performance of business educators in colleges of  
education involve: lecturing, which is the major task, and this is coupled with other tasks that include:  
occasionally, periodically, assessing and evaluating the academic performance of students through tests,  
examinations, assignments, and evaluation of project, supervising students regarding industrial training and  
teaching practice. They also undertake administrative responsibilities, meetings, research and conferences to  
ensure they are up to date with latest trends in their area of specialization. To execute these functions effectively,  
business educators need to acquire some mentoring skills which include research writing skills, communication  
skills, and collaborative skills.  
Writing is the process of representing a language with symbol or letter. Academic writing is any form of logical  
composition that provides evidence for sustaining an intellectual viewpoint (Fitzmaurice and O’Farrell, 2015).  
Ogunye (2018) suggested that academic writing must be well- thought out, well-organized, coherent,  
grammatically correct, well punctuated and logically sequenced. In academics, writing skills are criteria for  
assessing lecturer career growth. There is need for business educators to acquire this essential mentoring skill  
from his or her mentor as this will enable them to write article which is publishable in reputable journal. The  
foregoing may be achievable through communication skills.  
Communication skills are the abilities to transmit and exchange ideas, thoughts and emotion between a sender  
and a receiver, through writing, symbols and body language to create mutual understanding (Haeger and  
Fresquez ,2016). It helps business educators to present their research report in seminars, conferences, workshop,  
meetings symposia, colloquiums, discussion group and many other occasions. There is need for business  
educators to equip themselves with oral communication skills before they venture into presentation of research  
work. This could be achieved through proper mentorship. Communication skills may foster collaborative skills.  
Collaborative skills are abilities that allow individuals to work effectively with others towards a shared goal  
(Rodriguez, 2012). Strong collaborative skills are essential in academic setting. Effective collaboration  
encourages and assists business educators to learn new concepts and improve understanding of already known  
concepts. Collaborative skills among business educators develop individual content and pedagogical knowledge  
as they are able to interact, share and support one another on their specific problems for their career advancement.  
There is need for business educators to be mentored on how to interact, support and cooperate with co-workers  
for greater productivity and career growth.  
Statement of the Problem  
One of the aims of mentoring is to ensure that employee understand the nitty-gritty of their jobs well on time in  
order to facilitate personal, career and professional growth necessary for high professional commitment.  
However, it has been observed that there is poor mentoring practice among business educators in colleges of  
education. The experienced business educators are not assisting the young or newly recruited business educators  
to progress in their career and making their potentials to be realized. They are not involving in professional  
relationship with the young educators at the workplace for them to develop skills and knowledge needed to meet  
Page 1557  
www.rsisinternational.org  
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)  
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue XI November 2025  
the standard performance expected from them. This has led to stagnation in their chosen career .They feel  
confident where they are, and they do not feel the need to advance and realize their full potential because of this  
they feel weak and of little value, which then affect their desire to advance within the system. All these have  
adversely affected their career growth. The continuous existence of this scenario remains a concern to the  
researcher and based on this therefore, this study seeks to find out if mentoring could promote career growth of  
business educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria.  
Purpose of the Study  
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mentoring and career progression of business  
educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the:  
1. relationship between writing skills and career progression of business educators in colleges of education in  
South-West, Nigeria?  
2. relationship between communication skills and career progression of business educators in colleges of  
education in South-West, Nigeria?  
3. relationship between collaborative skills and career progression of business educators in colleges of  
education in South-West, Nigeria?  
4. the relationship between dimensions of mentorship skills and career progression of business educators in  
colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria?  
Research Questions  
The following research questions guided the study.  
1. What is the relationship between writing skills and career progression of business educators in colleges of  
education in South-West, Nigeria?  
2. What is the relationship between communication skills and career progression of business educators in  
colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria?  
3. What is the relationship between collaborative skills and career progression of business educators in colleges  
of education in South-West, Nigeria?  
4. What is the relationship between dimensions of mentorship skills and career progression of business  
educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria?  
Hypotheses  
The following hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance.  
1. There is no significant relationship between writing skills and career progression of business educators in  
colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria.  
2. There is no significant relationship between communication skills and career progression of business  
educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria.  
3. There is no significant relationship between collaborative skills and career progression of business educators  
in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria.  
4. Dimension of mentorship skills do not significantly predict career progression of business educators in  
colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria.  
Page 1558  
www.rsisinternational.org  
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)  
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue XI November 2025  
METHODOLOGY  
Correlational survey research design was used in the study. The study population included 122 business teachers  
who were in eight colleges of education that had business education in South-West, Nigeria. The whole  
population was used for the study, as it was manageable. Data collection was done using a structured  
questionnaire, which was subdivided into two parts. Part A was on personal data of respondents, whereas Part B  
consisted of a total of 20 opinion statements formulated in a 4-point rating scale: Strongly Disagree (1), Disagree  
(2), Agree (3), and Strongly Agree (4), respectively. All the questionnaires were filled and sent. Three  
professionals in the Department of Business Education, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education Science  
and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, had validated the instrument. To accomplish this, the internal  
consistency of the instrument was evaluated by a pilot test, and the data obtained was analysed through  
Cronbach's alpha statistics by administering 15 copies of the questionnaire once to 15 business educators of the  
Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State, who were not part of the study sample. The Cronbach's alpha  
coefficient values of the mentoring and career progression scales were 0.85 and 0.82, respectively, which  
indicated that all items in the scale were reliable.  
Pearson Correlation Coefficient and multiple regression analysis were used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level  
of significance. The decision rule for the research questions was based on r value such that calculated r-value  
between 0 and 0.20 was regarded as very low correlation, 0.21 and 0.40 was regarded as low correlation, 0.41  
and 0.60 was regarded as moderate correlation, 0.61 and 0.80 was regarded as high correlation and 0.81 and 1.00  
was regarded as very high correlation (Uzoagulu, 2011). On the basis of the hypotheses, the probability value  
(p-value) was used, such that if p-value was equal to or less than 0.05, the null hypothesis was rejected but if the  
p-value was greater than 0.05, the null hypothesis was retained.  
RESULTS  
Hypothesis One: There is no significant relationship between writing skills and career progression of business  
educators.  
Table 1: Pearson r showing the relationship between writing skills and career progression of business educators  
N
R
Sig 2-tailed (p-value)  
Remarks  
Variables  
Writing skill  
Career progression  
122  
.752  
Significant  
.001  
α = .05,  
p < .05  
Table 1 depicts the relationship between writing skills and career progression of business educators in colleges  
of education, South-West, Nigeria. Based on the table 1 the correlation coefficient (r) =.752, this presents an  
indication of high positive relationship between writing skills and career progression. At.05 alpha levels, the  
correlation coefficient is significant when looking at the p-value (.001). The null hypothesis is thus rejected.  
Therefore, writing skills and career development are strongly correlated.  
Hypothesis Two: There is no significant relationship between communication skills and career progression of  
business educators.  
Table 2: Pearson r showing the relationship between communication skills and career progression of business  
educators  
N
R
Sig 2-tailed (p-value)  
Remarks  
Variables  
Communication skill  
Page 1559  
www.rsisinternational.org  
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)  
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue XI November 2025  
Career progression  
122  
.542  
Significant  
.021  
α = .05,  
p < .05  
Table 2 shows the relationship between communication skills and career progression of business educators in  
colleges of education, South-West, Nigeria. From the table the correlation coefficient (r) = .542, this is an  
indication of a moderate positive relationship between communication skills and career progression. Looking  
at the p-value (.021) the correlation coefficient is significant testing at .05 alpha levels. Therefore, the null  
hypothesis is hereby rejected. Hence there is a significant relationship between communication skills and career  
progression.  
Hypothesis Three: There is no significant relationship between collaborative skills and career progression of  
business educators.  
Table 3: Pearson r showing the relationship between collaborative skills and career progression of business  
educators  
N
R
Sig 2-tailed (p-value)  
Remarks  
Variables  
Interpersonal skill  
Career progression  
122  
.612  
Significant  
.000  
α = .05,  
p < .05  
The Table 3 revealed a correlation between collaborative skills and career advancement of business educators in  
colleges of education, South-West, Nigeria. Based on the table the correlation coefficient (r) =.612 This is  
evidence of a high positive relationship between. collaborative skills and career progression looking at the p-  
value (.000) the correlation coefficient is significant at.05 alpha levels. The null hypothesis is hence rejected.  
Therefore there exists a very strong correlation between team work skills and career advancement.  
Hypothesis Four: Dimension of mentorship skills do not significantly predict career progression of business  
educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria.  
Table 4: Summary of ANOVA on the multiple regression estimate between dimensions of Mentoring skills and  
career progression of Business Educators.  
Model  
Sum of square  
6492.376  
df  
Mean Square  
F
Sig  
Regression  
Residual  
Total  
5
4031.814  
165  
173  
811.549  
24.435  
33.312  
.000  
10524.190  
From Table 4 with p value of 0.00 which is less than 0.05, shows that dimension of mentoring skills significantly  
predicts career progression of business educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria.  
Table 5: Multiple regression coefficients on dimensions of mentoring skills predicting Career progression of  
Business Educators  
Page 1560  
www.rsisinternational.org  
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)  
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue XI November 2025  
Data in Table 5 shows that dimension of mentoring skills predicting career development of business educators  
was statistically significant such that writing skills yielded a p-value of .025; for communication skills p-value  
of .011; for collaboration a p-value of .014; The R square is .725, which indicates that 72.5% of the variance in  
career progression is explained by dimension of mentoring skills of business educators. From the overall model  
analysis, the null hypothesis is rejected. Therefore, the results reveal that the dimension of mentoring skills that  
has more predictive effect on the career progression of business educators is writing skills.  
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS  
The result of hypothesis one revealed that there was significant relationship between writing skills and career  
progression of business educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria. The finding is in agreement  
with Obiyor (2016) whose study established a positive relationship between mentoring writing skills and career  
progression. The finding is also consistent with fogafty (2016) who reported that writing skills among teachers  
enhanced their career advancement. The implication of these findings is that there is a direct correlation between  
mentoring writing skills and career progression of business educators.  
The test of hypothesis two pointed out that there was a significant relationship between mentoring  
communication skills and career development of business educators in colleges of education in South-West,  
Nigeria. The finding is in agreement with that of Haeger and Fresquez (2016) whose study reported a relationship  
between communication skills and career progression among researchers. The implication of these findings is  
that team communication skills contribute to career progression of business educators.  
The test of hypothesis three indicated that there was significant relationship between collaborative skills and  
career progression of business educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria. The current study’s  
findings are in consonance with the findings of Rodrigue (2012) that collaborative skills enable teachers to share  
knowledge make decision and solve problems among themselves. It also agrees with the findings of King and  
Newman (2014) to the effect that collaboration skills among teachers contribute to their learning and assist them  
in acquiring more skills which enhance their career growth.  
The test of hypothesis four showed that the dimension of mentoring skills significantly predicted career  
progression of business educators in public colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria. This goes to confirm  
the findings of the studies of Luca and Tarricone (2017) which reported a positive link between dimensions of  
mentoring skills and career progression. This implies that career progression of business educators is directly  
linked to the dimension of mentoring skills practice to which they are exposed. The findings of the study is in  
line with Mulika (2017) who found that mentoring environment enable employee to develop skills and  
knowledge needed to meet the standard performance expected from them.  
CONCLUSION  
Based on the results of this research, it can be concluded that mentoring skills and career progression of business  
educators in colleges of education in South-West, Nigeria have significant relationship. This implies that writing  
skills, communication skills and collaborative skills collectively and independently relate to career development  
of business educators in colleges of education. When all these dimensions of mentoring skills are exist among  
business educators, their career progression will be enhanced.  
Page 1561  
www.rsisinternational.org  
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)  
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue XI November 2025  
RECOMMENDATIONS  
The following recommendations are offered.  
1. The study has revealed that mentoring is significantly correlated with career progression. Therefore,  
deliberate efforts should be made by management of colleges of education and government to provide  
enabling environment that will improve dimensions of mentoring skills such as such as writing skills,  
communication skills and collaborative skills among business educators in the colleges of education so as to  
enhance their career progression.  
2. Management of colleges of education should design and promote mentorship programme that will enhance  
career progression of business educators.  
REFERENCES  
1. Allen, T. D., & Eby, L. T. (2011). The Blackwell Handbook of Mentoring: A Multiple Perspectives  
Approach. Wiley-Blackwell.  
2. Bozman, K. (2018). Practical application: Mentoring relationship in the workplace, study.com.Retrieved  
from htp;/www.study.com  
3. Fizmaurice, M., & O’Farewell. C. (2015). Developing your academic writing skills: A handbook  
Academic practice & eLearning Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved from http:/www.tcd.le/Student  
Counselling /Student-learning/undergraduate/topic/study.  
4. Forgarty, M. (2016). Grammer girl: Your friendly guide to the world of grammer, punctuation usage, and  
fun development in the English Language. Retrieved from http/www.quickanddirtytips.  
5. Herger, H.,& Fresquez, C.(2016). Mentoring for inclusion: The impact of mentoring on under-graduate  
researcher in sciences, CBE-Life Sciences Education,15 (3), 7-24.  
6. King, M. B., & Newman, F. M. (2014). Building school capacity through professional development:  
Conceptual and empirical considerations. The International Journal of Educational Management, 15(2),  
86-94.  
7. Luca, J. & Tarricone, P. (2017). Does emotional intelligence affect successful teamwork? Proceedings  
of the 18th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary  
Education at the ASCILITE, p. 367 – 376, Melbourne: University of Melbourne.  
8. Mulika. (2017). The impact of teamwork on employee performance in strategic management and the  
performance improvement. Department of Abu Dhabi Police.UAE.  
9. Nwokike, F. O., & Okoli, B. E. (2015). Improving the quality and relevance business education  
programme through collaboration with co-operate sector. Nigeria Vocational Association Journal. 20(1),  
322-331.  
10. Obiyor, B. C. (2016). English master: General reading processes and purposes, Lagos: Flow Bubble  
Publisher.  
11. Ogunye, T, (2018). A guide to effective use of English: A handbook for tertiary institutions Buralex  
enterprises, Lagos:Buralex Enterprise Publisher.  
12. Oladele, J. (2023). “Enhancing Employability through Mentoring in Business Education.” African  
Journal of Business Education, 9(4), 56–70.  
13. Onifade, S. (2023). Education for Employment: A Nigerian Perspective. Ibadan: Academic Press.  
14. Ragins, B. R., & Kram, K. E. (2007). The Handbook of Mentoring at Work: Theory, Research, and  
Practice. SAGE Publications  
15. Rodríguez, H. (2012). Seven essential components for teacher education for inclusion. Retrieved from  
http://www.inclusive-education-in-action.org/.  
Page 1562  
www.rsisinternational.org