Work–Family Conflict Among Athletic Trainers in the Secondary School Setting

Pitney

2015

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Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Web-based management system. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 18 head ATs (13 men, 5 women; age ¼ 44 6 8 years, athletic training experience ¼ 22 6 7 years) volunteered.Data Collection and Analysis: Participants journaled their thoughts and experiences in response to a series of questions. To establish data credibility, we included multiple-analyst triangulation, stakeholder checks, and peer review. We used a general inductive approach to analyze the data.Results: Two higher-order themes emerged from our analysis of the data: organizational challenges and work-life balance strategies. The organizational challenges theme contained 2 lower-order themes: lack of autonomy and role demands. The work-life balance strategies theme contained 3 lower-order themes: prioritization of commitments, strategic boundary setting, and work-family integration.Conclusions: Head ATs are susceptible to experiencing work-life imbalance just as ATs in nonsupervisory roles are. Although not avoidable, the causes are manageable. Head ATs are encouraged to prioritize their personal time, make efforts to spend time away from their demanding positions, and reduce the number of additional responsibilities that can impede time available to spend away from work.Key Words: quality of life, supervisory role, retention Key PointsWork-life imbalance is inevitable, particularly in the collegiate setting, but is manageable. As do athletic trainers in nonsupervisory roles, head athletic trainers can experience work-life imbalance due to role overload and a lack of autonomy over work schedules. Head athletic trainers are encouraged to prioritize their personal time, try to spend time away from work, and reduce additional responsibilities that prevent spending time away from work. Expectations of the athletes and coaches for medical care during out-of-season training can limit the athletic trainer's time away, particularly because many are responsible for more than 1 team.

Section: Work-life Balance Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 66%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Achieving Work-Life Balance in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Setting, Part II: Perspectives From Head Athletic Trainers

Goodman

Pitney

2015

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“…The need to cover these expenses is only complicated by adding the economic demands of supporting a family. Although the majority of female ATs are not in athletic training for financial reward but rather for their desire to keep athletes on the playing field, 14 our participants cited unsatisfactory salaries in relation to daily responsibilities and hours worked. Salary is an additional negative causative factor to leave the profession when assessing WLB.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The Appendix provides a sampling of questions sent to participants. We borrowed the questions from previously published work in athletic training regarding WLB, 2,3,8,14 retention in the workplace, 1 and motherhood in athletic training. 5 Participants who had not completed the survey were sent 1 reminder e-mail 2 weeks after the initial e-mail to ensure study completion.…”

Section: Instrumentation and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Career and Family Aspirations of Female Athletic Trainers Employed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Setting

Eason

Ferraro

et al. 2015

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Context: Female athletic trainers (ATs) tend to depart the profession of athletic training after the age of 30. Factors influencing departure are theoretical. Professional demands, particularly at the collegiate level, have also been at the forefront of anecdotal discussion on departure factors.Objective: To understand the career and family intentions of female ATs employed in the collegiate setting.Design: Qualitative study. Setting: National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty-seven female ATs (single ¼ 14, married with no children ¼ 6, married with children ¼ 7) employed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I setting.Data Collection and Analysis: All female ATs responded to a series of open-ended questions via reflective journaling. Data were analyzed via a general inductive approach. Trustworthiness was established by peer review, member interpretive review, and multiple-analyst triangulation.Results: Our participants indicated a strong desire to focus on family or to start a family as part of their personal aspirations.Professionally, many female ATs were unsure of their longevity within the Division I collegiate setting or even the profession itself, with 2 main themes emerging as factors influencing decisions to depart: family planning persistence and family planning departure. Six female ATs planned to depart the profession entirely because of conflicts with motherhood and the role of the AT. Only 3 female ATs indicated a professional goal of persisting at the Division I setting regardless of their family or marital status, citing their ability to maintain work-life balance because of support networks. The remaining 17 female ATs planned to make a setting change to balance the roles of motherhood and AT because the Division I setting was not conducive to parenting.Conclusions: Our results substantiate those of previous researchers, which indicate the Division I setting can be problematic for female ATs and stimulate departure from the setting and even the profession.Key Words: retention, attrition, work-life balance Key PointsFemale athletic trainers decided to depart the Division I setting because the required hours of the job limited the time available for parenting. Female athletic trainers working in the Division I setting who were able to persist after having a family credit strong support networks and the development of effective work-life balance strategies.

“…All participants responded to a series of open-ended questions that addressed WLB, retention, and motherhood in athletic training. The interview guide was developed using a blend of previous research 9,11,21 and the theoretical framework of the study. Our study was exploratory, and we are the first to examine the topic of individual and sociocultural factors in athletic training related to WLB.…”

Section: Data-collection Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Female Athletic Trainers on Motherhood and Work-Life Balance: Individual- and Sociocultural-Level Factors

Eason

2015

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Context: A multilevel model of work-life balance (WLB) has been established in the sports management literature to explain interactions among organizational/structural, individual, and sociocultural factors and their effects on individual responses and attitudes toward WLB. These factors influence experiences and outcomes related to WLB.Objective: To examine individual and sociocultural factors that may influence perceptions of female athletic trainers (ATs) employed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I setting, particularly any sex-specific influences.Design: Qualitative study. Setting: National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 27 women (14 single with no children, 6 married with no children, 7 married with children) currently employed as full-time ATs in the Division I setting participated.Data Collection and Analysis: Participants responded to a series of open-ended questions via reflective journaling. Data were examined using a general inductive approach. Trustworthiness was established by multiple-analyst triangulation, member interpretive review, and peer review.Results: Participants recognized that their sex played a role in assessing WLB and a long-term career as an AT. In addition, they identified various individual-and sociocultural-level factors that affected their perceptions of WLB and attitudes toward a career goal.Conclusions: Our data suggested that female ATs may hold traditional sex ideologies of parenting and family roles, which may influence their potential for career longevity.Key Words: sex influence, quality of life, retention, attrition Key PointsA traditional sex ideology of parenting and family roles may contribute to the persistence and departure of female athletic trainers in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I setting. Female athletic trainers preferred an adaptive lifestyle, but personal preferences and sociocultural factors also influenced their career decisions. Work-life balance is multifaceted, with various factors leading to experiences of conflict. W ork-life balance (WLB) concerns have been identified as having an important effect on the experiences and retention of female athletic trainers (ATs).1-4 The field of athletic training, for the most part, is unique because these health care professionals work within sport settings. As are coaches 5,6 and physicians, 7 ATs are susceptible to struggling with WLB because of a myriad of factors related to the organizational demands placed on them. Dixon and Bruening 5 suggested, however, that WLB is influenced not only by organizational factors but also by individual and sociocultural factors. Traditionally, authors of the WLB literature have examined the construct unidimensionally, looking at it from the organizational, individual, or sociocultural perspective only. However, Dixon and Bruening 5 argued that individual responses and attitudes toward WLB can influence organizational culture and climate from the bottom up. Thus, they pre...