Examining Role Strain among Academic Program Coordinators

From the perspective of role theory and its attendant construct role strain, we examine open-ended survey responses to an online survey from 47 program coordinators at a R1 university conducted during the 2021-2022 academic year. Results suggest that beyond the era-specific challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and satisfactions realized from working with students, notable sources of role strain derive from issues of compensation and institutional norms relating to how the work gets done by program coordinators. Implications with an eye toward compensation, training, and equity are discussed.