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

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 830 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.

Don't Forget About Us

Through narratives, this chapter explores the perspectives of three higher education professionals who served diverse student bodies during a pandemic. Detailing their experiences, the authors address efforts made to support underrepresented students during a pandemic. The effects of COVID-19 were vast and even more impactful for underrepresented students. The challenges of taking classes during a pandemic, combined with the known social challenges of 2020, made for an unforgettable period of time. This chapter addresses lessons learned, best practices, and suggestions for supporting students during a pandemic. The authors define underrepresented students as first-generation, LGBT+, low-income, and ethnic/racial minority students.

Letters to My 25-Year-Old Self

This chapter on leading equitable and inclusive change in higher education takes the form of three letters the author writes to her 25-year-old self. The epistolary style lends itself to a narrative conversation that can transcend time and identity, reflecting nearly three decades of professional experience. The letters speak to not only the author's former and much younger self, but to a generation of emerging higher education professionals who can draw upon these experiences to further their own work in educational equity. The letters are a way to both convey lessons learned and to provide perspective on the importance of authentic and substantive engagement in social justice now and in the future. Topics discussed include finding voice, framing/reframing views on culturally conscious leadership, and reimagining leadership. The chapter concludes with recommendations for emerging leaders on how to make meaningful and sustained impact on social justice and equity.

Graduate students share their experiences of building helping skills: A case study

Higher education needs individuals working with students to have the skills to handle a variety of issues related to success and well-being. Graduate programs preparing higher education professionals to work with students provide the opportunity for skill-building to occur. However, how do graduate students perceive their skill development in courses offered in a graduate program, specifically related to basic helping skills? This study, conducted in a College of Education at a university located in the southern United States posed two questions to find out more about the attributes graduate students contribute in the development of their knowledge of helping skills, and documenting the lived experiences of graduate students practicing helping skills. Five graduate students enrolled in a new course on helping skills were part of this case study. Three themes emerged after collecting and coding data during the course. The three themes were: building helping skills, confidence and comfortability, and multicultural, diversity and inclusion. The discussion section includes recommendations to always offer a helping skills course in graduation programs preparing individuals to work in higher education, any course on helping skills should have a multicultural focus, and the course curriculum should include a mix of clinical and practical elements.

Exploring the “At-Risk” Student Label Through the Perspectives of Higher Education Professionals

Institutions of higher education often use the term “at-risk” to label undergraduate students who have a higher likelihood of not persisting. However, it is not clear how the use of this label impacts the perspectives of the higher education professionals who serve and support these students. Our qualitative study explores the descriptions and understandings of higher education professionals who serve and support at-risk students. We use thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006) to interpret our data and develop our themes. These themes include conflicting views of the “at-risk” definition, attempts to normalize at-risk, fostering relationships, and “at-promise.”

Burnout: Why Are Teacher Educators Reaching Their Limits?

Burnout among our P-12 teachers has been well documented throughout the years. Yet, little research has been conducted into the burnout of higher education professionals in general. Lackritz (2004) found that emotional exhaustion is significantly and positively related to teaching load, grading, office hours, grant money, service time, and number of service activities. This research looks further into the variables that may impact burnout for higher education faculty, specifically in teacher education, seeking to answer the questions: Are teacher educators in NY experiencing stress/burnout? If so, what internal and/or external factors/conditions are contributing to their burnout? And are specific groups of teacher educators more at-risk for developing burnout more so than others. Survey results reveal that teacher educators have a very low to moderate chance of burnout, but experience many of the stressors that can lead to burnout. The findings build on and extend beyond Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter’s (2001) framework which includes factors of workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values.

Health regulation in Brazilian municipalities

The regulatory structures can become determinants in the organizational process of health management, as it has the possibility of giving more effective responses to the user who seeks the Brazilian health system. The objective of the study is to analyze the regulation of health services in Brazilian municipalities, considering the regulation centers, recommended by the legislation of the Unified Health System (SUS). This is a descriptive exploratory study with a qualitative focus, developed in municipal regulatory centers in Brazilian states, through semi-structured interviews. The sample consisted of eighteen managers and seventy regulation professionals, from September / 2017 to January 2018. As limiting factors in regulation, the following stand out: great demand for people; unavailability of beds; systemic difficulties in relation to the agreed services; procedures that are difficult to schedule and execute; problems in information flows between primary care and regulation. The main potentialities are: increased financial resources for health; reorganization of internal regulatory procedures; meeting users' needs; health training for regulatory professionals; and strengthening primary health care. The study showed that it is difficult to concentrate higher education professionals to perform the tasks of regulators of medium and high complexity procedures; there are obstacles to operationalize the regulatory process, since the regulatory structures created coexist with insufficient resources, agreements that are inconsistent with the country's reality; there is recognition of the need for a strong regulatory component in guaranteeing qualified access to health, and one of the greatest challenges is to understand the multiplicity of scenarios, subjects and interests, and to implement user-centered strategies. Key messages Health regulation in Brazilian municipalities.

Imagining the Future of Jotería Studies as a Framework in the Field of Higher Education

Although research on queer Latinx/a/o college students has increased in recent years, only a few studies employ frameworks that originate from queer Latinx/a/o communities. To center ways of being and knowing rooted in queer Latinx/a/o experiences, this manuscript argues that educators, scholars, and practitioners interested in the study of higher education should mobilize Jotería Studies as a framework. In this manuscript, the authors offer an overview of Jotería Studies before discussing how Queer of Color frameworks have emerged in education. Following this foundation, the authors generate recommendations for how educators, researchers, and higher education professionals can use Jotería Studies to guide their work.