Volume 18, No. 6, 2021
Influence Of Servant Leadership On Faculty Retention In Private Higher Education Institutes (Heis): A Reflective Formative Approach
Aneela Sheikh , Nasir Mahmood , Aziah Ismail , Naveed A. Tariq , Muhammad Farhan Tabasssum
Abstract
The private higher education institutes are challenged for their resilience, sustainability, and competitive edge in the globalized knowledge-based economy in the 21st century. Faculty retention plays an important role as a catalyst for addressing the current mega developmental phenomenon faced by higher education institutes in developing countries. This study intends to explore the influence of servant leadership practice on faculty retention towards minimizing the high faculty turnover in private higher education institutes. The study employed a cross-sectional research design vis-à-vis the survey method. A sample of 341 faculty members from ten private higher education institutes in Lahore, Pakistan was selected through a proportionate random sampling technique. A close-ended questionnaire based on a seven-point Likert scale was administered as a research instrument. The study was conducted under the domain of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory. This study also explains the evaluation of the higher-order reflective-formative construct of servant leadership and faculty retention through partial least squares structural modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that servant leadership has a statistically significant influence on faculty retention in private higher education institutes in Pakistan. Thereby, we also provide a guideline to scholars, researchers, and academicians in need, when evaluating higher-order constructs. Further, up to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic study on faculty retention conducted in the backdrop of servant leadership in an eastern context, particularly in Pakistan.
Pages: 6623-6640
Keywords: Servant leadership; Faculty retention; Reflective-formative constructs; Higher education institutes; sustainability