WORK EXPERIENCE AND PERFORMANCE OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

This study examined the effect of work experience on the performance of federal universities in North-Central Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of teaching experience, research experience, and administrative experience on the performance of federal universities. A descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. The population of the study comprised 6,158 academic staff from seven selected federal universities in North-Central Nigeria. Using Yamane's (1967) formula, a sample size of 376 respondents was determined, out of which 352 valid questionnaires were retrieved and analyzed. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The findings revealed that teaching experience has a positive and significant effect on the performance of federal universities in North-Central Nigeria (β = 0.413, p = 0.000). The study also found that research experience has a positive and significant effect on university performance (β = 0.356, p = 0.000). Furthermore, administrative experience was found to have a positive and significant effect on the performance of federal universities (β = 0.287, p = 0.000). The overall regression model showed a strong positive relationship between work experience and university performance (R = 0.824, R² = 0.679, F = 252.816, p = 0.000), indicating that 67.9 percent of the variation in university performance is explained by teaching experience, research experience, and administrative experience. The study concluded that work experience is a significant determinant of the performance of federal universities in North-Central Nigeria, with teaching experience emerging as the strongest predictor of performance. The study recommended that federal universities should strengthen staff retention policies, promote research development programmes, provide continuous professional development opportunities, and encourage greater participation of academic staff in administrative responsibilities to enhance overall institutional performance.