5 Reasons Why Institutions Should Look More Deeply at Faculty Retention and Exits
5 Reasons Why Institutions Should Look More Deeply at Faculty Retention and Exits
What could you learn by listening to faculty who were considering exiting your institution, or those who ultimately left? At COACHE, we believe it can offer valuable data and insights to support faculty retention and proactively prevent the loss of top talent before they consider or accept offers elsewhere.
That’s why COACHE created the Faculty Retention & Exit Survey, which explores the primary reasons faculty leave — or ultimately stayed — how faculty were treated during the process, and the impact on the institution. It delivers rich data on the experiences of three groups: faculty who ultimately left an organization; faculty who received an offer to work elsewhere in the past year, but were ultimately retained; and, optionally, faculty who were preemptively retained by an institution.
So, what kinds of things can you learn from these faculty, and why does it matter?
1. Identify Systemic Issues, Not Just One-Offs
Data on those faculty who left or were ultimately retained can help move institutions beyond treating faculty departures or concerns as isolated incidents. It reveals patterns and trends that may point to systemic challenges within the institution, such as inequities or culture issues that may not be obvious from individual cases alone.
2. Uncover Institutional Blind Spots
Institutions may be unaware of certain problems because they’re not being consistently monitored. The COACHE Faculty Retention & Exit Survey provides an additional mechanism for gathering structured data that can shine a light on areas that have been overlooked — where the risk of inequity, dissatisfaction, or disengagement may be highest.
3. Retention Is Cost-Effective
There's a strong economic argument for utilizing the COACHE Faculty Retention & Exit Survey to improve faculty retention: losing a faculty member and recruiting a replacement can be significantly more expensive than investing in the people already there. The costs of a departure include:
• High financial cost of a search process
• Increased workload for existing faculty
• Potential disruption in student experience and research productivity
4. Inform Strategic Investment Decisions
Data from faculty retentions and exits can help administrators decide whether to invest resources in lengthy search processes or in better supporting current faculty through improved policies, practices, and climate.
5. Support Long-Term Institutional Health
By proactively addressing the root causes of faculty dissatisfaction and turnover, an institution fosters a more inclusive, equitable, and stable academic environment — one where people are more likely to thrive and stay.
The COACHE Faculty Retention & Exit Survey is the only instrument of its kind that does comparative analysis on the causes, costs, and conduct surrounding faculty exits. It provides institutions with critical insights that help them diagnose underlying issues, take meaningful actions, and ultimately make smarter, more effective strategic investments in their people.
COACHE has just launched a brand-new platform for its Faculty Retention & Exit Survey, making it easier for leaders and other stakeholders to explore the data and glean meaningful insights. If you would like to learn more about the survey or join the 2025 cohort, contact Deborah_Ruiz@gse.harvard.edu.