Abstract Paternal involvement in early childhood routines is internationally recognized as a critical determinant of children’s executive functioning, emotional self-regulation, and long-term academic success. However, in Sub-Saharan Africa—and Nigeria in particular—traditional paternal roles have historically been restricted to financial provision and authoritarian discipline. This empirical study utilized a descriptive survey design to explore the perceptions, engagement levels, and cultural-structural barriers regarding active involvement in pre-schoolers’ daily routines among fathers who are young academic staff in public Nigerian universities (N = 280).
This demographic represents a unique socioeconomic status (SES) nexus: high intellectual exposure to global child development paradigms paired with severe institutional “publish-or-perish” time poverty, economic strain, and deeply entrenched patriarchal cultural expectations. Data were collected using the validated Paternal Involvement in Early Childhood Routines Scale (PIECRS) and the Perceived Cultural and Institutional Barriers Scale (PCIBS) across six federal and state universities in South-Western and North-Central Nigeria. Descriptive statistics, relative importance index (RII), and multiple regression analysis revealed that while young academic fathers demonstrate significantly high cognitive endorsement of egalitarian co-parenting (M = 4.28, SD = 0.54), their actual physical execution of daily caregiving routines (e.g., bath times, feeding, school drop-offs) remains low to moderate (M = 2.41, SD = 0.72).
Multiple regression analysis established that institutional work volume (β= -.42, p < .001) and internalized patriarchal role expectations (β= -.31, p < .001) were the strongest negative predictors of active paternal caregiving. Grounded in Pleck’s Conceptualization of Father Involvement and Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model, this paper highlights the gap between intellectual awareness and practical execution among educated African men, offering policy recommendations for family-friendly academic policies and father-inclusive early childhood interventions.
Keywords: Paternal Involvement, Pre-schoolers, Early Career Academics, Cultural Barriers, Public Universities, Nigeria.