ABSTRACT

Abstract

Academic staff retention and job satisfaction in Nigeria has raised deep concern among educational stakeholders. Thus, effective retention strategies capable of engaging competent workforce must be put in place to achieve institutional goals. Thus, the study examined academic staff retention strategies, job satisfaction and goal achievement in private Universities in South-west, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised 1,921 academic staff and 139 management staff in all the 23 private Universities from in the South-west, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 10 out of the institutions that were established before the year 2000 to provide information pertinent to the study. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 60 Management staff. Proportional sampling technique was used to select 200 employers of labour. “Academic Staff Retention Strategies Questionnaire” (ASRSQ), “Job Satisfaction Questionnaire” (JSQ) and “Goal Achievement Questionnaire” (GAQ) were used to collect data for the study. Mean and Standard Deviation were used to answer the research questions raised. The findings of the study revealed that the levels of academic staff retention strategies, job satisfaction and goal achievement were average. The study concluded that effective retention strategies enhanced job satisfaction of academic staff in private Universities in South-west, Nigeria. The study recommended that compensation packages for academic staff in private Universities be enhanced and made relevant to prevailing economic circumstances through periodical review.