Predicted Burnout From a Linear Combination of Personal and Cultural Factors For Departmental Chairs at Academic Health Centers

Academic departmental chairs at academic health centers have multifaceted roles that entail of faculty obligations, leadership tasks, and the provision of clinical care. Increasing job demands at academic healthcare centers and higher education institutions has led to an increase in burnout, job dissatisfaction, and attrition of faculty and departmental chairs. Departmental chairs at academic health centers must determine strategies to balance their multiple roles held at their institution, as well as roles held in personal aspects of their lives. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that contributed to turnover and job dissatisfaction for academic departmental chairs to assist in the retention of leadership at academic health centers. The researcher utilized a quantitative non-experimental approach. A sample size of 100 participants was recruited to take part in this study. Data collection was completed via a survey that entailed of the Maslach Burnout Index-Human Sciences Survey (MBI-HSS) and a survey created by Gabbe et al. (2002, 2018). Data analysis was conducted through IBM SPSS (Version 27) and the hypothesis was analyzed using multiple regression. The null hypothesis was rejected as increases in satisfaction with life-work balance, current job satisfaction, self-perceived effectiveness, and the likelihood of professional life improving all resulted in significant decreases in burnout. An increase in irritability with one’s spouse, however, resulted in a significant increase in burnout. The predictor that was most influential in burnout was satisfaction with life-work balance. Future research can be conducted to include additional geographical regions to assess the effects of the different stressors faced by academic health centers. The study may also be completed via interviews for data collection to enhance transparency in the provision of responses among the participants