Religion disparity and employees’ performance: an examination of higher institutions of learning in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The attention of several educational agencies has been drawn to the need to manage religious disparity in higher institutions of learning to curtail the possible effect on the higher institutions’ performance. As a result, the study examines the influence of religious disparity on employees’ performance with a reference to the selected higher institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria. A survey design was adopted because of its suitability in describing and exploring the nature of the study, which is primarily quantitative. The study population consists of non-academic staff of higher institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria, which stood at 4,500; and from this, a sample of 367 were selected using the Taro Yamani’s formula. Linear regression was deployed to test the hypotheses formulated to guide the study. Findings revealed that the β-value for religion disparity is very low ( 3%), indicating a very low impact on the employees’ performance with a p-value greater than 0.05 at a 5% significant level. It was evident that religious disparity does not significantly influence employees’ performance among non-academics in higher institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria. This suggests that the quality of service and productivity of employees does not reflect religious discrimination; hence, to maintain harmonious relations, there should be a holistic approach among the staff suffering from religious disparity as opposed to the hitherto fragmented and episodic actions taken over time.