A Mixed Method Analysis of Burnout and Turnover Intentions Among Higher Education Professionals During COVID-19

In this article, Dr. Joseph Paris and I analyze survey data of 1,080 higher education professionals across 830 colleges and universities in the United States about their working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. From this survey data, collected from members of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers in October 2020, we found that employees had increased expectations but fewer resources, leading to burnout and negative impacts on both the personal and professional lives of employees.

A brief research summary is available here, with recommendations for thinking about how the pandemic continues to impact working conditions in higher education well after the time period of our analysis.

We have also written a piece published in College & University that provides recommendations for policy and practice for higher education leaders in times of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. A PDF is available here.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly and dramatically altered higher education including changes to the workplace. Many staff and faculty positions were eliminated while other employees experienced furloughs or reduced work hours. Our study examines the experiences of 1,080 higher education professionals serving in various functional roles during the COVID-19 pandemic from 711 institutions of higher education in the United States. We utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design to examine quantitative and qualitative survey data from October 2020 to understand how jobs in higher education changed during the pandemic and how these changes were associated with an individual’s burnout and intention to leave higher education. Using multiple regression and thematic analysis and the job-demands and resources framework, we find that higher education professionals who experienced significant disruption in their work had increased odds of experiencing burnout. We also find that eliminating staff positions and significant levels of burnout were associated with increased intentions to leave their current profession in higher education. In open ended responses, higher education professionals described how increased job demands through decreased staff and increased workloads were not accompanied with increased resources, leading to burnout. These working conditions negatively affected participants’ personal lives, including their physical and mental health. We conclude with recommendations for research on working conditions in higher education in the pandemic-era and emphasize that institutional leaders should seek systemic changes to support employees.

Citations

Winfield, J. D. & Paris, J. H. (2022). A mixed method analysis of burnout and turnover intentions among higher education professionals during COVID-19. Journal of Education Human Resources . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3138/jehr-2021-0048

Winfield, J. D. & Paris, J. H. (2022, August 4). COVID-19 and the higher education workplace: Creating a community of care to address burnout and employee turnover. The University of Toronto Press Journals Blog. https://blog.utpjournals.com/2022/08/04/covid-19-and-the-higher-education-workplace-creating-a-community-of-care-to-address-burnout-and-employee-turnover/

Winfield, J. D. & Paris, J. H. (2022). Burnout and working conditions in higher education during COVID-19: Recommendations for policy and practice. College & University, 97(3) 61-64. https://www.aacrao.org/research-publications/quarterly-journals/college-university-journal/article/c-u-vol.-97-no.-3-summer-2022/burnout-and-working-conditions-in-higher-education-during-covid-19-recommendations-for-policy-and-practice

The pre-print is available through SocArXiv and Temple University’s Institutional Repository. A PDF of the College & University publication is also available at Temple’s Institutional Repository.

Image Credit

The cover image for this paper was generated with the aRtsy package by Jake Winfield.