Perception of Gender Diversity and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour in Nigerian Universities: The Moderating Effect of Perception of Power Distance

This thesis aims to heighten the understanding of the complicated relationship between perceived gender diversity climate and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) by examining the moderating role of perceived power distance on the relationship between perceived gender diversity climate and OCB. The thesis used a mixed-methods approach to draw data from randomly selected 350 male and female staff in six purposefully chosen universities in Nigeria via the questionnaire and follow-up data from 18 participants via the interview. Firstly, the study investigated the effects of the perception of gender diversity climate and the perception of the cultural dimension of power distance on the performance of OCB. Second, the study also examined the moderating role of the perception of power distance on the relationship between perception of gender diversity climate and OCB. Finally, this study qualitatively explored participants’ perceptions of the cultural dimension of power distance and its implication on the employees’ perception of the relationship between power distance and OCB in their respective universities. The study found a significant positive relationship between perception of gender diversity climate and group OCB. The study also demonstrated that the research context has a high perception of power distance, which has a positive predictive power on OCB and established that perception of power distance significantly moderated the relationship between perception of gender diversity climate and OCB. Based on findings, the thesis contributes to diversity climate-OCB theories, specifically, social exchange theory, by introducing a moderating variable to the concept and literature, especially in the developing countries where the topic has received limited attention. Given that the effects of diversity in organisations are relatively complex and dynamic, using a mixed-methods approach to investigate the gender diversity climate-OCB association provided an enhanced understanding of this relationship. The argument is helpful to human resource managers, policymakers and practitioners in decision making.