Context: Female athletic trainers (ATs) can face barriers to employment within the profession. Although there is evidence for an increasing percentage of women in athletic training, the portion providing medical care to male sport teams within the professional sport and collegiate settings continues to be small.Objective: To investigate the experiences of female ATs when seeking employment with male sport teams within the Division I setting.Design: Qualitative study. Setting: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I.Patients or Other Participants: A total of 15 NCAA Division I female ATs providing medical care to a male sport team participated in our study. Their mean age was 33 6 9 years, and they had a mean of 11 6 9 years of overall clinical experience.Data Collection and Analysis: All participants completed one-on-one phone interviews, which were recorded and transcribed. Analysis of the data followed thematic analysis using a phenomenologic approach. Credibility was established through credibility checks, peer review, and researcher triangulation.Results: Factors that played a role in women gaining employment with male sport teams were (1) preexisting professional relationships, (2) prior experience with a male sport, and (3) perseverance. Participants in our study were most attracted to their current positions because of (1) the environment of the collegiate setting and (2) the location of the university.Conclusions: Job access for female ATs in this study was not viewed as a challenge. Familiarity through previous connections with the university and staff and commitment to career goals helped these women obtain the positions they held. The desire to work in male sports was not a primary contributing factor to the decision-making process. Progress continues for women in athletic training, as evidenced by the reported ease of job access with male sport teams.Key Words: job attractors, job access, hiring practices
Key PointsPreexisting professional relationships, prior experience with a male sport, and perseverance were identified as key factors that contributed to female athletic trainers' obtaining positions with male sport teams. Primary attractors to employment were the collegiate setting and university location. Job access for female athletic trainers working with male sport teams was not viewed as a challenge.A once male-dominated field, athletic training now includes more women (54.5%) than men (45.3%).
1Despite the increase in female athletic trainers (ATs), only a small number of them have been able to break the barrier of working with male sport teams, particularly among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and professional sports.2 Only a quarter of all full-time athletic training positions in the Division I setting were filled by women, 3 and an even smaller portion of these were positions higher than assistant or associate AT.3-5 A search 6 of female ATs working with high-profile male athletes revealed that only a small number had broken the male professio...