Reasons for Faculty Attrition, Assessed by Latent Class Analysis

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Faculty Development
• Workforce Studies

Background:

• High attrition rates (nearly 60% within 10 years) plague early career faculty at Schools of Medicine (SOM).
• Inadequate mentorship is linked to lower retention, particularly for underrepresented minority faculty.
• The specific role of mentoring in faculty retention requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze factors influencing SOM faculty retention.
• To identify distinct subgroups of departing faculty based on their reasons for leaving.
• To inform targeted retention strategies for academic medical institutions.

Main Methods:

• Latent class analysis (LCA) of exit survey data from 429 non-retiring SOM faculty (2017-2023).
• Identification of latent classes based on primary/secondary reasons for departure.
• Logistic regression to assess associations between latent classes, overall experience, and return likelihood.

Main Results:

• Three distinct latent classes (LC) of departing faculty were identified.
• LC1: Cited extrinsic and intrinsic factors (career opportunity, low salary).
• LC2: Primarily cited extrinsic factors (personal/family matters).
• LC3: Primarily cited intrinsic factors (work environment, leadership).
• LC2 reported significantly higher overall experience and likelihood of returning (p<0.001).

Conclusions:

• Exiting faculty can be categorized into three distinct subgroups based on their reasons for leaving.
• Findings suggest tailored interventions are needed to address specific faculty departure reasons.
• Implementing class-specific strategies can improve faculty retention, benefiting the biomedical workforce.