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Half-Way Out: How Requiring Outside Offers to Raise Salaries Influences Faculty Retention and Organizational Commitment

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Abstract

This institutional case study examines the influence of a policy requiring outside offers for faculty salary increases on institutional retention efforts and faculty organizational commitment. Outside offers and policies governing them are rarely examined, and studied here from the perspective of administrators, leaving faculty, and faculty who receive outside offers and remain. Findings suggest such a policy has negative influences on institutional retention efforts and organizational commitment. Implications are drawn for campuses working to retain faculty and for future research.

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Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments provided by the anonymous reviewers, Leslie Gonzales, Andy Lounder, and Corbin Campbell on earlier drafts of this manuscript. I further recognize this article is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD-1008117.

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  1. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    KerryAnn O’Meara

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Correspondence to KerryAnn O’Meara.

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O’Meara, K. Half-Way Out: How Requiring Outside Offers to Raise Salaries Influences Faculty Retention and Organizational Commitment. Res High Educ 56, 279–298 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-014-9341-z

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