Graduation Semester and Year
Fall 2025
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Public and Urban Administration
Department
Public Administration
First Advisor
Dr. Karabi Bezboruah
Second Advisor
Dr. Maria Martinez-Cosio
Third Advisor
Dr. Emily Nwakpuda
Abstract
Abstract
Nonprofit leader burnout represents a critical challenge threatening organizational sustainability and mission effectiveness across the nonprofit sector. Rather than an individual failing or isolated organizational pathology, burnout emerges as a systemic phenomenon embedded within institutional forces that operate across the nonprofit field. This mixed-methods examination employs a statewide Texas sample to capture institutional field-level dynamics that operate across municipal and regional boundaries, recognizing that nonprofit organizational fields transcend local contexts through statewide funding networks, professional associations, and regulatory environments that create coherent institutional pressures (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). While research demonstrates that high work demands and resource constraints exacerbate nonprofit leader burnout broadly, few studies have examined the specific institutional and cultural dynamics driving concerning levels of executive attrition in Texas's diverse nonprofit ecosystem (Skelcher & Smith, 2015). This investigation addresses this gap by examining how institutional forces systematically contribute to burnout among Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Executive Directors (EDs) across Texas through a theoretically grounded mixed-methods analysis.
Guided by the institutional theory framework, this study surveyed 94 CEOs and EDs leading Texas-based nonprofits using the validated Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996), followed by in-depth interviews with 13 purposively selected participants to explore underlying institutional mechanisms. Data collection encompassed organizational culture perceptions, professional conformity pressures, and institutional misalignment with personal well-being needs, examining how dysfunctional organizational cultures characterized by excessive work demands, role conformity pressures, and self-care stigma systematically contribute to leadership distress (Balthazard, Cooke, & Potter, 2006; Welp, 2022). Multiple regression analyses examined relationships linking institutional embeddedness and organizational culture dynamics to burnout manifestations, while thematic analysis of interview data provided comprehensive insights into leaders' lived experiences and the contextual factors that explain statistical patterns.
Study findings reveal significant burnout indicators among Texas nonprofit executives, with 47.3% reporting emotional exhaustion symptoms at least monthly and 65.3% experiencing cultural pressures for constant availability. The convergent mixed-methods analysis demonstrates how coercive funding pressures, mimetic organizational practices, and normative professional expectations create systematic conditions that compromise leader well-being while demanding sustained organizational performance. These results provide generalizable insights into region-specific institutional drivers of executive distress, contributing to theoretical understanding of how institutional forces manifest through organizational practices that affect leadership sustainability. By identifying specific cultural pressures, organizational conditions, and institutional practices that contribute to burnout through both quantitative documentation and qualitative explanation, this research advances understanding of the systemic factors underlying concerning executive turnover rates in Texas's nonprofit sector. The integrated findings inform evidence-based recommendations for organizational culture reform, funding practice modifications, and professional development initiatives that can promote more sustainable nonprofit leadership across diverse institutional contexts.
Keywords
Nonprofit leadership burnout Institutional theory Organizational culture Executive directors Mixed-methods research Emotional exhaustion Institutional pressures Leadership sustainability Maslach Burnout Inventory Texas nonprofit sector
Disciplines
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Dunlap, Lenita R. PhD, "Institutional Pressures and Nonprofit Executive Burnout: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Organizational Culture and Leadership Sustainability in Texas" (2025). Public Affairs Dissertations. 235.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/publicaffairs_dissertations/235