The study aims to adopt an intention-based approach to examine the key factors influencing academics' behaviour to share career capital tacit and explicit knowledge, foster innovations and to gain competitive advantages among higher education context. A research model was developed by successfully extending the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) with institutional forces (i.e. senior management support and innovative climate) to examine academics' career capital knowledge sharing behaviour. A survey was conducted through a questionnaire among 234 academics in Hong Kong self-financing institutions and the data was analyzed using SmartPLS - Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. It was found that innovative climate of self-financing higher education institutions plays a mediating role in knowledge sharing intention among academics. The findings of this research help higher education institutions promote innovate climate and adopt innovative technologies to encourage knowledge sharing behaviour. Innovative climate fully mediates the relationship between knowledge sharing attitude and intention to share tacit and explicit career capital knowledge, as well as the relationship between senior management support and intention to share explicit career capital knowledge. Managerial implications are discussed and issues for further research are highlighted.