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Gender and Racial Diversity Among the Head Medical and Athletic Training Staff of Women’s Professional Sports Leagues
Published Web Location
https://doi.org/10.1177/23259671221150447Abstract
Background
Despite increased awareness for promoting diversity, orthopaedics remains one of the least diverse specialties. Studying health care providers in women's professional sports provides a unique opportunity to analyze gender and racial diversity.Hypotheses
There would be low female and minority representation across the various women's professional sports leagues. There would be an increased number of female head certified athletic trainers (ATCs) when compared with head team physicians (HTPs).Study design
Cross-sectional study.Methods
We evaluated the perceived race and sex of designated HTPs and ATCs in the Women's National Basketball Association, National Women's Soccer League, and National Women's Hockey League. Type of doctorate degree, specialty, and years in practice were also collected. Kappa (κ) coefficient measurements were used to determine interobserver agreement on race. Categorical and continuous variables were analyzed using chi-square and t tests, respectively.Results
There were significantly more female ATCs than female HTPs (74.1% vs 37.5%; P = .01). Minority representation between HTPs and ATCs was not significantly different (20.8% vs 40.7%; P = .13). Black HTPs (12.5%) and Black ATCs (22.2%) composed the largest proportion among the minority groups. There was high interobserver agreement of perceived race across HTPs (κ = 1.0) and ATCs (κ = 0.95).Conclusion
Although there were more female ATCs than HTPs in women's professional sports leagues, both cohorts lack perceived racial diversity. These data suggest an opportunity for diversification in medical and training staff of women's professional sports.Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.
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