A cross-national study of teacher retention and job satisfaction in Sub-Saharan Africa

Using the four-capital retention model as a framework, this study attempted to explore moderators of teacher retention and job satisfaction in Ethiopia and Malawi. A total of 510 teachers were recruited from the two countries. They completed the Teacher Retention Scale, which is based on the four-capital model. The data were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, mediation analysis and multivariate analysis of variance. The results showed that teacher retention did not contribute to the variance in job satisfaction. However, the type of teacher and their place of teaching moderated the relationship between teacher retention and job satisfaction. The need for continental teacher retention policy guidelines is discussed alongside discussions on other study implications.