Worker burnout is a growing issue nationwide, and research conducted at Texas State University has identified compassion fatigue as a significant factor impacting higher education faculty.

Millie Cordaro, Ph.D., a professor of instruction in the Department of Psychology at TXST, is lead author on the study. Krista Howard, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Psychology, Evan Schmiedehaus, an associate professor of instruction in the Department of Psychology, and Stephanie Dailey, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies are co-authors. Their research, “Faculty mental health and compassion fatigue: A call to the profession, a call to the institution,” is published in the Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health.

The study identified the mental health of faculty in the U.S. higher education system as an overlooked area of concern. The researchers addressed the occupational health of faculty, specifically faculty mental health, (i.e., compassion fatigue, generalized anxiety disorder, major depression disorder, somatic symptom disorder) along with psychosocial and occupational factors. Two aspects of compassion fatigue—secondary traumatic stress and burnout—were used to classify participants into low or elevated secondary traumatic stress and burnout groups.

Strikingly, compassion fatigue proved to be a key risk factor for quitting the profession: Faculty members with moderate to severe symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout showed significantly higher levels of intent-to-quit.

In response, the study recommends at-risk faculty take preventive steps to mitigate compassion fatigue, such as engaging in intentional self-care strategies. At the institutional level, faculty mental health should be prioritized as well.