What are the reasons why faculty leave?

In a recent flurry of articles, KerryAnn O’Meara and colleagues have challenged some of the commonly-held attitudes of administrators and faculty about the reasons why faculty leave. An institution’s tendency to blame “heaven” (better opportunities) or “hell” (the “writing on the wall”) insulates them from any personal or institutional responsibility for the faculty member’s untimely exit (O’Meara, Lounder & Campbell, 2014). The reasons for such departures are, in fact, nuanced, subject to influence and, perhaps, predictable. They include (in a list compiled from O’Meara’s extensive research, from the TIAA Institute, and from our own interviews with senior academic administrators at a large, public system of higher education):

• Better opportunity
  • Higher salary, more resources
  • More prestigious department, institution (increasingly international)
  • Administrative appointment (e.g., dean)
  • Position outside academe
  • Additional education or training
• Location and family
  • Career opportunities for spouse, partner
  • Better policies related to childcare (e.g., tuition remission), parental leave
  • Desirable geographic location
  • To be closer to family
• Work environment and fit
  • Better campus climate for, e.g., women, URM, GLBTQ faculty
  • Intellectual fit
  • Lack of collegiality in unit
  • Potential for better work-life balance in a different type of position
• Retirement
  • “Natural” retirement
  • Early retirement, but for another position
  • Negotiated exit for misbehavior
• Writing on the wall
  • Not well suited to faculty career
  • Poor likelihood of tenure, promotion, contract renewal
• The reasons actual faculty “leavers” provide for seeking employment elsewhere suggest an institutional culpability due to departmental cultures and processes—factors within the power of faculty and administrators to change.