The main purpose of this study was to find out the factors affecting career and professional development in science education in the rural Southern Nigeria. Five specific objectives were drawn for the study: (1) To identify the status and quality of science education teachers in these areas (2) To examine the condition of service of these science education teachers. (3) To find out factors affecting their career development (4) To explain the main factors affecting these teachers in their professionalism

(5) To propose ways of enhancing science education teachers career development. The study uses 300 post primary school science education teachers, randomly selected from 30 post primary schools in the Niger Delta region of Southern Nigeria. The researcher used questionnaire as the main instrument for data collection and also interacted with these teachers both males and females. The study indicated among others, that science education teachers in the Region faced the problem of lack of science equipment and laboratories/infrastructure in their schools due to remoteness of some of these schools, environmental problems, community oil company conflicts and socio-cultural factors that hinders science education teachers motivation consequently, the low and delayed salaries and allowances that has resulted in the low esteem and status of science education teachers job status and career satisfaction