Date

4-7-2026

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Richard Segovia

Keywords

servant leadership, teacher attrition, teacher retention

Disciplines

Educational Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of secondary teachers in South Carolina with servant leader traits and their effects on teacher retention. The conceptual framework for this study was Robert Greenleaf’s servant leadership, as phrased by Van Dierendonck’s five traits of servant leadership, which have a positive effect on teachers’ retention. The central research question was: How do public school teachers in South Carolina describe the effects of servant leadership on teacher retention? This study used Moustakas’ Modified van Kaam method to arrive at the essence of the phenomenon by analyzing the data collected by individual interviews, qualitative questionnaires, and focus group interviews. This study was comprised of 10 secondary teachers from South Carolina which synthesized the textural and structural descriptions from their lived experiences with the phenomenon, focused on its effect on their intentions to stay in the teaching profession. Six themes were identified with two sub-themes which were connected to the concept of personal caring or relationships between colleagues, educational leaders, and teachers. The 10 teacher-participants in this study described the essence of the phenomenon as heavily affected by their perceptions as to whether or not their leaders had developed personal connections with them which helped in instances when conflict arose and when their retention was on the line.

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