Relationship Between Academic Burnout and Psychosocial Needs Among Black Doctoral Counseling Education Scholars

This quantitative study, guided by the critical race theory theoretical framework, was conducted to investigate the relationship between academic burnout and psychosocial needs among Black doctoral students in counseling education and supervision (CES) programs. This study highlights the prevalence and patterns of perceived met psychological needs and academic burnout among this population group. This study collected data from 96 Black CES doctoral students through a survey-based research design. Participants completed the University Needs Instrument for assessing psychological needs, including the needs for academic, peer, family, financial, practical, and emotional support, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey for Students for measuring burnout within the domains of cynicism, exhaustion, and reduced professional efficacy. An analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, focusing on correlational tests and a multiple linear regression to explore relationships between met psychosocial needs and academic burnout. Academic and emotional support, F(6, 73) = 7.071, p < .001, R² = .316, were statistically significant predictors for exhaustion. Emotional support was also a statistically significant predictor for cynicism, F(6, 74) = 4.887, p<.001, R² = .284. However, neither of the predictor variables was statistically significant for professional efficacy. Implications for social change include informing recruitment and retention strategies, promoting diversity and inclusivity policies, inspiring further research, and helping educational institutions better serve their diverse student population.