Faculty mental health and compassion fatigue: A call to the profession, a call to the institution

The mental health of faculty in the United States higher education system has been an overlooked area of concern. This study addresses the occupational health of faculty, specifically faculty mental health (i.e., compassion fatigue, generalized anxiety disorder, major depression disorder, somatic symptom disorder), along with psychosocial and occupational factors. Two aspects of compassion fatigue (i.e., secondary traumatic stress and burnout) were used to classify participants into low or elevated secondary traumatic stress and burnout groups. Given the significant rates of compassion fatigue and psychopathology among faculty members, the importance of cultivating resilience at the individual and institutional levels is discussed.