Retaining faculty members is now a strategic priority for higher education institutions. Findings confirm that organizational commitment continues to serve as a central theoretical construct, yet its explanatory strength is increasingly challenged by new themes such as well-being, work–life balance, and sustainable human resource practices. At the same time, the rapid expansion of scholarly output calls for a systematic review to capture both the evolution and the fragmentation of this research domain. This study applies a bibliometric approach to 740 publications indexed in Scopus between 2015 and 2025, processed through Bibliometrix (R) and VOSviewer. Our analysis suggests that research production has grown at a CAGR of 7.12%, which reflects not only numerical expansion but also notable thematic diversification. The results notably reveal a shift from traditional frameworks such as job satisfaction and turnover intention toward multidimensional perspectives that integrate leadership, digital transformation, and faculty well-being. By contrast, ESG, Green HRM, and sustainability remain underrepresented, leaving a significant gap for further inquiry. The study argues that addressing this gap requires linking organizational commitment with digital and sustainable practices to strengthen faculty retention, particularly in emerging economies and private universities. Taken together, the findings enrich theoretical understanding while also offering practical insights for policy and management, underscoring the importance of collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches for the future of higher education research.
Hoang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.