Competing in the Stress Olympics: Mid-Level Managers and their Experiences of Work Stress as Impacted by their Supervisors and Organizational Climate

Student affairs has a problem due to staff attrition (Rosser & Javinar, 2003). Most professionals leave the field due to job dissatisfaction, unhealthy work environments, high stress, and low morale (Marshall et al., 2016; Rosser & Javinar, 2003). Researchers have identified a relationship between job stress and burnout and intentions to leave the field of student affairs (Mullen et al., 2018). Turnover of positions is financially detrimental to the institution due to the cost of recruitment, hiring, and training the replacement employee (Agovino, 2019). In addition to the financial impact, when mid-level managers leave, there is a loss of institutional knowledge, understanding of organizational and departmental culture, and relationships with campus partners and students (Rosser & Javinar, 2003), resulting in decreased morale (Boehman, 2007). Psychosocial safety climate theory (Dollard & Bakker, 2010) structured this descriptive single-case study focused on the experiences of work stress by mid-level managers in the student affairs departments of four-year higher education institutions. Data collection occurred through one-on-one semi-structured interviewing and photo-elicitation through the participants creating a meme to represent their work stress. This case study may address the gap in the literature surrounding work stress and mid-level student affairs managers and provide insight into these experiences.