An Exploration of the Impact of Academic Strike Actions on Older Adult Lecturers in Nigeria

Education transforms the individual and society into a better state of development. Lecturers who are key actors in ensuring the smooth running of most university institutions often embark on strike actions to demand better welfare structures and services that enable them to discharge their duties. While these frequent strikes impact lecturers and students; older adult lecturers suffer greatly from the impact of frequent strikes in Nigeria and studies on the impact of frequent strikes on older adult lecturers are scarce. This qualitative study seeks to fill the gap using an interpretive phenomenological approach by exploring the difficulties frequent strikes have on older adult lecturers and approaches to curb them. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 older adult lecturers who are 60 years and older purposively selected from two universities in Nigeria that have experienced the incessant Academic Staff Union of Universities strike over time. Data from the study were analyzed in themes using manual coding. Findings from the study showed that frequent strikes had a psychological impact such as depression, adverse financial impact on the well-being of older lecturers, and also led to an increased brain drain in the educational sector. It is recommended that policies on education and aging should promote the establishment of effective conflict-resolution mechanisms between university management, lecturers, social workers, and relevant stakeholders as well as enhance resources for quality aging. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024.