Predictors of Teachers’ Turnover and Transfer Intentions: A Multiple Mediation Model of Teacher Engagement

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine how teachers’ level of engagement might predict their likelihood of leaving their current positions. This study used cross-sectional survey data gathered on 188 elementary school teachers. A multiple mediation model was used to examine the effects of organizational (individual-level climate, psychological climate) and personal (burnout, engagement, job stress) predictors on turnover and transfer intentions. Results from the study confirmed that individual-level climate was a significant predictor of teachers’ engagement, job stress, and burnout, which mediated its effect on turnover intention. Psychological climate had a direct effect on transfer intention but no reported indirect effects on teacher self-beliefs or turnover intention. The research findings provide a foundation for continued research, as well as a framework for understanding how school culture may influence teachers’ decisions to leave or transfer. The study identified a need for school leaders to understand that the perceptions of the school’s environment and teachers’ self-beliefs have a significant effect on teacher turnover and intent to transfer. Results from this study offer explicit recommendations and guidance to school leaders for how to improve teacher retention; it is one of a small number of studies in educational contexts to provide such guidance for teacher engagement.