Impact of Burnout on the STEMM Workforce

Addressing burnout is important for healthy workplaces and healthy individuals. Burnout comes with many significant consequences for workers who may face physical and mental health challenges as well as organizations that can suffer from absenteeism, attrition, and diminished engagement, all of which can reduce growth and innovation. In healthcare settings, consequences have the potential to be even more dire. It has been shown that burnout can be related to negative patient outcomes as individual providers are struggling to manage overwhelming caseloads and hours. The uneven effect of burnout is also cause for concern for a thriving science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) ecosystem, as this can diminish the kind of creativity and innovation that thrives in environments when a broad set of voices are represented. Taken together, these challenges make clear the need for continued attention to burnout and interventions in STEMM fields.To explore these challenges in greater detail, the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine of the National Academies convened a workshop on October 1 and 2, 2024, in Washington, D.C., to examine burnout and its implications for gender equity in STEMM. Through three commissioned papers, panel and breakout discussions, and participant engagement, the workshop was designed to examine current knowledge, share lessons learned, and consider ways to address burnout in STEMM settings. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.