A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LECTURER QUALITY AND SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH OUTPUT IN SELECTED PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA

The study set out to compare the quality of lecturers available in and the support for research and publication in selected public and private universities in southwest Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 77 (40 public and 37 private) lecturers from 12 (six public and six private) selected universities in southwest Nigeria. Research and Knowledge Dissemination Questionnaire for Academic Staff in Nigerian Universities (RKDQ-ASNU) with a reliability coefficient of 0.75, which had been used in a previous study, was used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts and simple percentages while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the quality of lecturers (as measured by cadre/status/grade and qualification) employed by public universities was higher and better than those employed in private universities. On a general note, lecturers in public universities enjoyed more support for research and publication than their counterparts in private universities but lecturers in private universities were found to be better than their counterparts in public universities in terms of access to financial support for compulsory annual research leave and organization of seminars and conferences for staff by the institutions. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that private universities should recruit high caliber staff with requisite academic qualifications and provide an enabling environment for their lecturers to develop on the job through improved conditions of service and job security. Proprietors of public and private universities should allocate adequate funds to research activities in their institutions by granting more access to research grants and providing more financial support for lecturers to attend conferences, workshops and seminars.