THE CULTURE OF BUSYNESS has become a significant barrier to negotiating work/life boundaries for higher ed student affairs professionals. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, this study examined the perceptions of 20 newer residence life professionals to understand how busyness impacts their personal and professional lives. Analysis of data from semi-structured interviews revealed that, as a result of living and working in a culture of busyness, staff felt pressured to live up to both explicit and implicit job expectations and had difficulty negotiating the balance between work and personal life. The findings of this study provide insight into how busyness influences job satisfaction and career motivation and discuss how concerns might be addressed to prevent burnout and attrition.
Charlie Potts (Thu,) studied this question.