Unrealistic Expectations: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Lived Experiences of Former Campus-Based Fraternity/Sorority Advisors

The Great Resignation has brought a renewed national focus on job quit rates throughout the United States (Gittleman, 2022; Serenko, 2023). Researchers have explored why non-faculty higher education professionals leave the field of student affairs, but few recent studies have considered departure among functional area-specific professionals, with the exception of residence life and housing. Further, while there are studies on burnout, the field lacks research about how the day-to-day reality of fraternity/sorority advising (FSL work) impacts the quitting behaviors of fraternity/sorority advising professionals (FSAs).
This general qualitative study was rooted in the sensitizing concepts (Charmaz, 2003) of the weight of the work of FSAs, the complexity of the fraternity and sorority advising job, and the burn-through that exists in fraternity/sorority advising. Participants included nine former campus-based FSAs who left the field from January 2018-December 2023. Data were collected through participant interest forms and semi-structured Zoom interviews to answer the following research questions:

1. How do former campus-based fraternity/sorority advisors describe their former FSA positions and work experiences?
2. What aspects of the fraternity/sorority advising position led to former campus-based FSAs' decisions to quit their campus-based role? Thematic analysis and inductive coding methods were used to analyze the data. Findings included four major themes related to the experiences of former FSAs: unrealistic expectations, challenges that are specific to working in fraternity and sorority life, the impact of the campus environment, and lasting personal effects of the FSA experience. This study offers implications and recommendations for policy and practice, specifically around the areas of training and onboarding, employee well-being, and the resources that are necessary to support the work of FSAs. Further research should explore how various stakeholders define the value of fraternities and sororities and the prevalence and lasting impact of the student affairs practice of burning through and exhausting student affairs professionals for the sake of the college or university.