Academic factors affecting students burnout: A comparative study of engineering students and other students of Iran’s higher education system

Academic burnout causes feelings of helplessness, irritability and disappointment in students, which reduces their academic achievement. Hence, it is necessary to study the factors affecting students' academic burnout. The purpose of this study is to investigate the contributing factors on academic burnout among students of Iran's higher education system. In addition, the level of burnout among engineering students was compared with that of students in other departments. The statistical population of the study consisted of all students of universities affiliated to the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, which by using stratified random sampling, 2635 of them were selected. Data analysis was done in both descriptive and inferential statistics by using SPSS software version 23. Accordingly, more than half of the students in Iran's higher education system have suffered from moderate academic burnout. In addition, the results of the study indicated that the students' academic burnout status was statistically different based on age, gender, marital status, employment status, membership in student associations, student dormitory, academic course and academic degree. Nonetheless, there was no statistically significant distinction between the academic burnout status of the students based on variables of academic year (day time or night time) and type of university (high, middle and low prestigious). In this regard, the results of the study indicate that the level of burnout among engineering students is higher than that of other educational departments.