This qualitative study furthers understanding of psychological contract violation experiences as examined through the lens of administrative middle managers in higher education settings. Psychological contract is defined as unstated expectations in the employment relationship which, when violated, results in negative outcomes for employers and employees. In higher education, middle managers are professional staff with titles such as director, associate director, or assistant director across academic and student affairs units. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the meaning of violation experiences for administrative middle managers in higher education settings. This study advanced understanding of post-violation outcomes on participants' work and future career intentions. This study found that participants' psychological contract violation experiences had a wounding effect, including negative emotional impacts, feelings of isolation, increased vulnerability, and feelings of responsibility for the violation experience. In addition, participants made sense of their violation experience by focusing on their passion for serving students, the importance of work to their identity, and the responsibility they felt as leaders. Study participants remained in their work settings despite the violation experience and negative impacts. This study resulted in implications for practice for three entities: higher education institutions, administrative middle managers, and professional associations. It was recommended that higher education institutions recognize the occurrence of psychological contract violation experiences to mitigate negative impacts of employee turnover and intent to leave. In addition, institutions were encouraged to provide employees with opportunities to process these experiences, to improve consistency and transparency in hiring and onboarding administrative middle managers, and to engage in proactive outreach with new employees at regular intervals to assess potential violation experiences. Administrative middle managers should build and utilize mentoring relationships to navigate dilemmas including psychological contract violation experiences, actively engage in storytelling to process negative experiences, and exercise self-advocacy in the career management process. Professional associations should provide accessible resources, such as professional development and support opportunities for middle managers so they could better handle potential pitfalls like psychological contract violation experiences. Policy recommendations included higher education institutions review and revise policies related to employee recruitment, hiring, and onboarding as well as internal policies for job reclassifications and employee grievances when psychological contract violations occur. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]