Texas Workforce Trends in Student Affairs Administration

Over the past several years, the changing higher education landscape has undoubtedly impacted workforce trends in student affairs. However, there is a dearth of research that centers on workforce trends within the profession and in the state of Texas. As such, the purpose of this article was to provide an overview of the workforce trends impacting student affairs units in Texas. We discuss five workforce trends: attrition, compensation, mental health and wellness, role definition, and working conditions. To situate our discussion of workforce trends within Texas, the research team and higher education student affairs graduate students reviewed institutional websites and student affairs position descriptions. Our findings revealed that providing robust information regarding workforce trends in Texas was challenging due to limited information and a lack of consistency with student affairs units. We conclude by providing recommendations for institutions and hiring managers.