Burnout in Undergraduate Students: An Investigation in the Context of University Perceptions

This study aims to investigate the burnout levels of undergraduate students in the context of their university perceptions. The study group consisted of 219 undergraduate students (71.2% female; 27.4% male; 1.4% not reporting). Data were collected using “Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Form” and “University Perception and Personal Information Form”. Content analysis was employed to analyze the data. The analysis revealed that undergraduate students’ perceptions of university were grouped into fifteen subcategories under three main categories (positive and developmental perception, functional and context-dependent perception, and negative and constraining perception). As a result of ANOVA, conducted to examine the relationship between undergraduate students’ university perceptions and their burnout levels, it was found that the exhaustion and depersonalization scores of students who perceived the university positively were significantly lower than those who perceived the university functionally or negatively. However, no significant difference was observed between the efficacy scores of students who perceived the university functionally or positively, but the efficacy scores of both groups were significantly higher than those who perceived the university negatively. These findings suggest a significant relationship between the burnout levels of undergraduate students and their university perceptions. Consequently, it is recommended that the university perceptions of undergraduate students should be considered in studies aiming to reduce their burnout levels.