The link between school leadership, staff job satisfaction and retention. Longitudinal evidence from England

Abstract This paper presents new evidence on the link between staff perceptions of school leadership and job satisfaction, drawing on three waves of The Engagement Platform data collected from over 4000 members of school staff in England. We find that when staff have a positive rather than an ambivalent view of school leadership, their job satisfaction is markedly improved. Views of school leadership in the autumn term are also found to correlate with whether staff leave their job by the end of the academic year. Together, our results demonstrate how views of leadership play a pivotal role in the satisfaction and retention of school staff.