The Struggle to Retain Adept Academic Staff in Private Higher Education Institutions in Ghana

Are Compensation Practices to Blame?

Abstract

The role of compensation in academic staff retention in higher education institutions is a long-standing debate. This study examined the direct effect of compensation on academics’ intention to remain at or leave private higher education institutions in Ghana. A correlational approach (survey questionnaire, Partial Least Square Structural Equation modelling) was used to assess the relationship between compensation and retention of 169 full-time academic staff randomly selected across five of these institutions. The study found that, although salary had a significant and positive relationship with academic staff retention (path coefficient = 0.229, t statistic = 2.003, p = 0.046), fringe benefits had a more significant and positive relationship (path coefficient = 0.597, t statistics = 5.484, p = 0.000). Collectively, salary and fringe benefits explained 60% of the variance in academic staff retention. These findings suggest that, because salaries are relatively low in Ghanaian private higher education institutions, fringe benefits have become pivotal in academic staff decision-making in relation to remaining or resigning.