The Effect of Organizational Climate on Faculty Burnout at State and Private Universities: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Organizational climate, that is, the atmosphere surrounding an organization, unites features with individual, organizational, and environmental characteristics that affect the behaviors of individuals within the organization. Burnout is accepted as a syndrome that often occurs in people who work together with others. Faculty members in universities are potential burnout candidates due to their relationships with many students, employees, and administrators. To reduce burnout of the faculty members, it is crucial to maintain a healthy organizational climate. It is also projected that discrepancies in organizational climate can manifest differently between public and private universities. So, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of organizational climate on the burnout of faculty members at both state and private universities. By using the survey method, 984 responses were collected from faculty members. A covariance-based structural equation modeling was constructed to test the reliability and validity of both the measurement and the structural model. The results of the study supported the hypotheses mostly and indicated that all dimensions of organizational climate negatively influenced faculty members’ emotional exhaustion. While the balanced workload, clarity of task, cohesion, and the ethical dimensions within the organizational climate produced a negative effect on the depersonalization of faculty members, the lack of clarity of task and ethical dimensions contributed negatively to the diminished personal accomplishment. In addition, the study demonstrated that state university faculty members having cohesion dimension of organizational climate were less likely to be exhausted emotionally, whereas cohesion among private university faculty members negatively influenced the depersonalization. Theoretical and practical implications regarding organizational climate dimensions and burnout levels of faculty members were discussed.