journal_vol49no3 - 48

High job demands combined with high job resources result in positive
work engagement, but a mismatch between demands and resources
can result in apathy or burnout.
sense of exhaustion and disengagement after emotionally and cognitively demanding
work (Lynch & Glass, 2019). Interestingly, the relationship that job demands (r = .56)
and job resources (r = -.53) have to burnout is nearly an equal inverse one. Job resources
should increase when job demands increase to protect against burnout. For example,
HRL professionals who respond to a cognitively and emotionally demanding situation
should receive post-situation support from colleagues, peers, supervisors, and mentors
through feedback and coaching. This study complicates Renn and Jessup-Anger's
(2008) finding that " new professionals need to be prepared to create conditions for
and manage their own learning without the support and regular feedback [of others] "
(p. 332). More research is needed to investigate which of the job demands may most
contribute to burnout and which job resources may be the most mitigating.
The second research question investigated which individual factors (i.e., gender,
race, supervision, and years in the profession) and work factors most influenced burnout
in HRL professionals. Job demands, job resources, number of supervisees, years
in the profession, and number of hours doing trauma helping work over the previous
30 days had a statistically significant relationship to burnout; gender and race/ethnicity
did not. Broadly, this suggests that certain professionals are more susceptible to burnout
than others, but there is no single profile of who is most susceptible to it.
Although the student affairs profession has studied burnout, as a concept, for 20
years, this study updates burnout research through a more detailed analysis of what
may most influence it. Prior burnout research in student affairs investigated pay and
benefits (Mullen et al., 2018), long working hours (Marshall et al., 2016), job satisfaction
(Mullen et al., 2018; Tull, 2014), and quality of life (Rosser & Javinar, 2003). These
studies established burnout as a known and negative well-being outcome in student
affairs professionals. The present study highlights the role of organizations in terms
of how they establish specific job demands and job resources in the HRL professionals'
job responsibilities. Specifically, this study shows that job demands, job resources,
number of supervisees, years in the profession, and number of hours doing trauma
help work over the previous 30 days most influenced (either positively or negatively)
experiencing burnout.
However, when examining the results more closely, an interesting pattern
emerged. Job demands have a positive relationship with burnout; as the demands increase,
so does burnout. Conversely, job resources, number of supervisees, years in
the profession, and trauma help over the previous 30 days have a negative relationship
with burnout; as these factors increase, burnout decreases. This result revealed a professional
tension. For example, although the newest HRL professionals would likely
have few or no supervisees, they are more likely to have the most direct exposure to
trauma within the previous 30 days (Lynch, 2019). On the other hand, mid-level HRL
Volume 49, No. 3 * 2023 45

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