The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 1 - 44

James C . Stoner

CONCLUSION
Due to their live-in responsibilities and the
feeling of always being on the job, the work
of an RA never ends and they rarely have an
escape from their work duties. Because the
RA's home is also their work environment
(Horvath & Stack, 2013), they are not like most
postsecondary educators who can go home at
the end of the day. In addition, RAs take on
the burdens of their community members
because they are responsible for connecting
their residents to the necessary and appropriate resources (Paladino et al., 2005; Reingle,
Thombs, Osborn, Saffian, & Oltersdorf, 2010).
This feeling has only been amplified in recent
years due to more students entering college
with mental health concerns and other personal issues (Castillo & Schwartz, 2013; Jaeger &
Caison, 2006; Mowbray et al., 2006) that may
require additional support. Taking on these responsibilities is, without a doubt, exhausting,
especially for RAs who are still navigating their
own personal development. Thus, it is no surprise that RAs continue to experience burnout.
The results of this research study demonstrate that male and female RAs experience burnout equally and that RAs across all
community compositions experience similar
feelings of burnout (except in the personal accomplishment dimension). Most importantly,
this study reveals two things: (1) RAs who
chose to leave the position experience higher
burnout, and (2) there is a significant relationship between higher levels of burnout and
lower job satisfaction among RAs. Therefore,
it is necessary for practitioners and researchers to further explore and develop intervention
strategies targeting burnout to improve job satisfaction and reduce staff turnover.
44

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T h e J o u r n a l o f C o l l e g e a n d U n i v e r s i t y St u d e n t H o u s i n g
https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2003.0036 https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.21972 https://doi.org/10.1027//1015-5759.19.1.12
The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 1

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