The impact of organizational commitment on rural teachers’ retention: a moderated mediation study

Abstract

The study aims to reveal the mechanisms by which organizational commitment influences the retention of rural teachers and how environmental fit and condition support modulate this relationship. It specifically examined the mediating role of environmental fit and the moderating role of supportive conditions in their relationship. A survey was conducted among 4,746 rural teachers across ten regions in Heilongjiang Province. The findings indicate: (1) There is a significant positive correlation between organizational commitment and the willingness of rural teachers to stay; (2) Environmental fit acts as a mediator in the relationship between organizational commitment and the retention intention of rural teachers; (3) Supportive conditions not only moderate the direct prediction of organizational commitment on the retention of rural teachers but also the predictive effect of organizational commitment on environmental fit. Therefore, to more effectively retain rural teachers, the following effective measures can be taken: optimize the rural educational environment to enhance teachers’ organizational commitment; refine recruitment and training systems to improve the fit of rural teachers with the rural environment; establish a monitoring system for the retention of rural teachers to enhance local educational supervision and accountability mechanisms.