Principal Burnout: How Urban School Leaders Experience Secondary Trauma on the U.S.-Mexico Border

ABSTRACT

The mental health needs of school principals have been consistently overlooked in the field of educational leadership and in the preparation and professional development of principals. This mixed-method study compares rates of burnout and secondary trauma of principals in one urban school district along the U.S.-Mexico border with other human-service professionals and provides examples of how two principals experienced burnout and secondary trauma. Most principals reported low rates of burnout and secondary trauma, but follow-up interviews with two newer principals revealed significant exposure to trauma. Findings inform new directions for research and new emphases for preparation.

Notes

^1. The MBI-ES measures emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment while the ProQOL measures compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary trauma. The survey uses prompts and Likert scales; for example: “I feel emotionally drained from my work” and “I feel depressed because of the traumatic experiences of the people I [help].”

^2. All names used in this study are pseudonyms.

^3. The Texas Education Agency uses the term economically disadvantaged to describe a student who is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch or eligible for other public assistance. We use the term free or reduced-price lunch (FRL) in this article because economically disadvantaged is not a nationally or internationally recognized term.

^4. According to the 2018 federal poverty guidelines, the federal poverty threshold for a family of four is $25,100.