Faculty’s voice behavior is crucial in promoting institutional reform and sustainable development in higher education institutions. However, there is still significant room for exploration regarding how to effectively stimulate such behavior among faculty. This study, based on data collected from 630 Chinese university faculty, investigates the conditions under which mission valence can promote voice behavior in higher education settings. The study involved constructing a moderated mediation model, with thriving at work as the mediator and servant leadership as the moderator, to explore the relationship between mission valence and faculty’s voice behavior. The results reveal that mission valence has a significant positive impact on faculty’s voice behavior in higher education and indirectly promotes such behavior through the mediating role of thriving at work. Furthermore, it was found that servant leadership plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between thriving at work and faculty’s voice behavior, enhancing the overall mediation mechanism. This study extends our understanding of the relationship between mission valence and faculty’s voice behavior in the context of Chinese higher education and provides practical insights into strategies for promoting faculty’s voice behavior.