Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and academics’ retention in universities. It draws on the Conservation of Resources theory to deepen understanding of a process underlying this relationship by which academics are more likely to stay in universities through the practice of ethical leadership. Specifically, it advances academics’ job-related affective well-being as a potential mediating mechanism, fostered by ethical leadership, which lowers their intention-to-leave.

Method: This study is conducted through a cross-sectional survey of 303 academics in Australian universities. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis procedures are deployed to analyse academics’ data. The research hypotheses are tested through a bootstrapped regression analysis of academics’ perceived ethical leadership, affective wellbeing and intention-to-leave.

Findings: The findings lend support to the hypothesized relations, indicating a significant role of ethical leadership on enhanced intentions of academics to stay in universities by directly conserving their job-related affective well-being.

Theoretical Implications: This paper contributes to knowledge of the relationship between ethical leadership and academics’ retention by identifying job-related affective well-being as an underlying mechanism in a university sector.

Practical Implications: This paper has practical implications for higher educational institutes that are seeking the retention of academic staff. Its findings show that presence of ethical leadership in universities matters in this regard because it lowers academics’ intentions to leave by nurturing their wellbeing at work.

Originality: This is the first study to examine the impact of ethical leadership on academics’ wellbeing and intentions to leave in the context of universities in Australia. Furthermore, it is one of the first studies to explore the mediating role of affective well-being in the ethical leadership and intention-to-leave relationship.

Ahmad, S., Kaleem, A., & Fazal-e-Hasan, S.M. (2018). How Ethical Leadership Stimulates Academics’ Retention in Universities: The Mediating Role of Job-related Affective Well-being. International Journal of Educational Management, (in print).