Do digital fatigue and psychological safety influence faculty retention? Examining the roles of advocacy behavior and green HR practices

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Type of the article: Research Article

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, faculty members in higher education face rising issues linked to digital fatigue. The present study investigates the impact of Digital Fatigue and Psychological Safety on Faculty Retention, examining the mediating role of Employee Advocacy Behavior and the moderating effect of Green HR Practices. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire during the period January-February 2025, collecting 454 responses from faculty members of private higher education institutions offering undergraduate and postgraduate programs in the educational hub of Southern Karnataka state, India. These “emerging clusters” were chosen because they have increased digitization, internet penetration, and a strong cultural legacy, all of which are expected to drive faculties away from traditional teaching methods. The mediation and moderation were analyzed utilizing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to check the model fit and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to test hypothetical relationships. The study reveals that Digital Fatigue affects Employee Advocacy and Faculty Retention, while Psychological Safety enhances both (β = 0.475; β = 0.238). Employee Advocacy mediates these effects, strengthening retention outcomes. Further, Green HR Practices significantly enhance retention (β = 0.444) and moderate the effects of Digital Fatigue (β = 0.188) and Psychological Safety (β = 0.224), highlighting their role in mitigating fatigue and strengthening institutional commitment. This study highlights the importance of policymakers and institutional leaders to position faculty retention as a strategic priority and thereby ensure educators receive the necessary support to thrive in an ever-advancing digital existence with high expectations.

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    • Figure 1. Conceptual model
    • Figure 2. Mediating role of environmental advocacy behavior in the relationship between digital fatigue, psychological safety, and faculty retention
    • Figure 3. Moderating effects of green HR practices between Digital Fatigue and Faculty Retention
    • Figure 4. Moderating effects of green HR practices between Digital Fatigue and Faculty Retention with low and high green HR practices
    • Figure 5. Moderating effects of green HR practices between Psychological Safety and Faculty Retention
    • Figure 6. Moderating effects of green HR practices between Psychological Safety and Faculty Retention with low and high green HR practices
    • Table 1. Demographic profile of the respondents
    • Table 2. Construct validity
    • Table 3. Direct effect of study variables
    • Table 4. Mediating role of environmental advocacy behavior in the relationship between digital fatigue, psychological safety, and faculty retention
    • Table 5. Moderating effects of green HR practices between Digital Fatigue and Faculty Retention
    • Table 6. Moderating effects of green HR practices between Psychological Safety and Faculty Retention
    • Conceptualization
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Afsana Mehar
    • Data curation
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Manjushri C. Shetty
    • Formal Analysis
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Afsana Mehar
    • Funding acquisition
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Afsana Mehar, Manjushri C. Shetty
    • Investigation
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P.
    • Methodology
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Afsana Mehar
    • Software
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Afsana Mehar
    • Supervision
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Manjushri C. Shetty
    • Validation
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P.
    • Visualization
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Afsana Mehar, Manjushri C. Shetty
    • Writing – original draft
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Afsana Mehar
    • Writing – review & editing
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P.
    • Project administration
      Neekshitha V. Shetty, Shareena P., Manjushri C. Shetty
    • Resources
      Shareena P., Afsana Mehar, Manjushri C. Shetty