Teacher Retention in South Africa's Marginalised Schools: Interplay of Psychological Capital, Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

The education sector is struggling to retain top-tier teachers, a challenge that can lead to disorder and instability in public schools. Since teachers are key to driving change, it is essential to find effective ways to keep them in the profession, maximise their impact and meet societal needs. This study therefore examines the role of psychological capital in the link between work engagement and job satisfaction, with the aim of tackling retention challenges and improve service delivery. This research, which involved a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 309 teachers in the Tshwane South District of South Africa, finds that psychological capital, which is a teacher’s psychological state that include hope, resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy, significantly mediates the positive connection between work engagement and job satisfaction. Although these results are limited to the sample studied, they highlight the importance of psychological capital in understanding teacher retention. The study suggests that developing strategies to enhance psychological capital could improve both engagement and job satisfaction. Future research should include larger sample sizes to strengthen the external validity of the findings.

https://doi.org/10.26803/MyRes.2024.18