Pathway to Quiet Quitting: Role of Sense of Community and Role Stress Between Engaging Leadership and Course Tutors’ Burnout

Grounded in the Job Demands–Resources model, this study examines how engaging leadership relates to role stress, sense of community, burnout, and quiet quitting among distance-education course tutors in the Ghanaian context. Using covariance-based structural equation modelling on survey data from 923 tutors, we tested a model with direct and mediated paths. Engaging leadership was associated with lower role stress and burnout and higher sense of community. Role stress increased burnout, whereas sense of community reduced it; burnout, in turn, predicted quiet-quitting intentions. Mediation analyses showed that role stress and sense of community partially transmitted the effects of engaging leadership on burnout, thereby indirectly lowering quiet quitting. Practically, the findings support instituting engaging-leadership development for study-centre coordinators, standardised role-clarity protocols, and structured peer/community supports to buffer demands and sustain commitment. At policy level, results motivate guidance on distance-tutoring workloads and contracting, and inclusion of burnout/engagement indicators in quality-assurance audits, aligning with SDG 3 (well-being) and SDG 4 (quality education).