Exploring burnout among university faculty: incidence,performance, and demographic issues

This study examines burnout and related issues among 265 university faculty members. The study estimates the percentage of incidence of highest levels of burnout is at half the rate of the general workforce. Female faculty members have significantly higher mean scores on emotional exhaustion than males, while male faculty have higher scores on depersonalization. Significant differences were not found across race/ethnicity groups but age is inversely correlated to emotional exhaustion. Burnout shows significant correlations with numbers of students taught, time invested in various activities, and numerical student evaluations. Suggestions are given to administrators for using a preventive strategy to anticipate burnout, rather than relying on reactive techniques, once it has occurred.