Athletic Trainer Employment and Salary Characteristics

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine: 1) demographics and professional credentials of recently hired athletic trainers, 2) the association between these characteristics and the high school, clinical, and collegiate setting, and 3) which of these factors best predicted salary. Design and Setting: A survey was sent to all prospective employers. Of the 472 surveys sent, 282 (60%) were returned. Subjects: Prospective employers who were listed on the NATA job vacancy notices from January 1, 1994 to October 1, 1994. Measurements: Employers selected a job description for their position opening and indicated the characteristics of the people they hired. The job descriptions were placed into three categories. A chi-square analysis was used to determine the degree of association between applicant characteristics and job descriptions. Employee characteristics were coded and a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to determined which of the characteristics best predicted salary. Analyses of variance were performed to determine differences among the three practice settings and as follow-up analyses to the multiple regression. An analysis of variance was also performed to compare salaries based on job description and teaching responsibilities. Results: No association was found between the employment setting and gender, ethnicity, marital status, educational route, physical therapy, credential, or EMT certification. There was an association between the CPR instructor's credential and employment setting and between highest degree attained and employment setting. * All authors are associated with the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA 22903. Brent L. Arnold is an assistant professor and Associate Laboratory Director of the Sports Medicine/Athletic Training Research Laboratory. Bonnie L VanLunen is a doctoral student in Sports Medicine. Bruce M. Gansneder is a professor in the Department of Educational Studies. Joseph E. Szczerba and Carl G. Mattacola are doctoral candidates in Sports Medicine. David H. Perrin is a professor and Laboratory Director of the Sports Medicine/Athletic Training Research Laboratory. Conclusions: The results suggest that these factors were most closely associated with employment in the collegiate setting. With regard to salary, it was determined that a doctoral degree, a master's degree, and marital status were the best predictors of salary. Article: In recent years, Moss 2-4 has studied the entry-level salaries of athletic trainers (ATs). For the hiring period of June 1, 1990 to June 1, 1991, Moss 3 reported that the high school athletic trainer with a teaching position earned significantly more than athletic trainers hired for a clinic, college, or nonteaching high school position and that college ATs who also taught for their institution made significantly more than those who did not. Additionally, Moss reported that there were no differences between individuals with master's degrees and those with only bachelor's degrees and that athletic trainers in NATA districts 4 and 5 earned significantly less than ATs in districts 6, 7, 8, and 10. However, in a second study for entry-level positions posted in 1992, Moss 3 reported salary levels similar to those in 1991 but did not report any statistically significant differences. In contrast, Lawton et al l reported higher salaries for collegiate athletic trainers. However, they did not limit their study to entry-level positions. They also reported that educational level, teaching responsibilities, professional certifications, and institutional sponsorship of football did not significantly affect the salary of head athletic trainers. The above studies" provide salary information within various employment settings and factors that may or may not influence salary. Furthermore, they address specific factors which may affect hiring for collegiate and entry-level positions. The purpose of our study, which was part of a larger study, was to assess a greater number of factors (eg, certification route, academic degree, ethnicity, etc) associated with employment and to expand the research to include the three primary practice settings and nonentry-level positions. Additionally, we attempted to determine which of these factors or combination of these factors best predicted an athletic trainer's salary. METHODS A survey was sent to all prospective employers listed on the NATA job vacancy notices from January 1, 1994 to October 1, 1994. Of the 472 surveys mailed, 282 (60%) were returned with a sample error rate of 1.9%. For this portion of the study, employers were asked to select a job description for their position opening and to indicate certain characteristics of the person they hired. Initially, the 15 job descriptors were collapsed into three categories: high school (including teacher/trainer), clinic (including clinic-based athletic trainers with high school or college responsibilities), and college (including faculty). A descriptive cross-tabulation of the collapsed job descriptions with highest degree earned, gender, ethnicity, marital status, route to certification, and the additional certifications of EMT, PT, and CPR instructor was performed with a chi-square analysis. The chi-square analysis was used to determine the degree of association between these applicant characteristics and the job description. Additionally, the employee characteristics were dummy-coded, and a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to determine which of the characteristics best predicted salary. ANOVAs were also performed to determine differences among the three practice settings and as follow-up analyses to the multiple regression. Finally, to make a direct comparison with the results of Moss, 3 an ANOVA comparing salaries based on job description and teaching responsibilities was performed. The alpha level for all statistical analyses was set at p = .05. RESULTS The percentages of ATs with highest degree earned, gender, ethnicity, marital status, and route to certification in each of the practice settings are presented in Table 1. The chi-square analysis revealed a significant association between the highest degree attained and practice setting (×2 = 56.3). Additionally, the chi-square analysis was significant (x 2 = 7.03) for the association between practice setting and CPR instructor certification with 33 (25.4%), 40 (30.8%), and 57 (43.8%) of ATs in the high school, clinic, and college setting possessing the certification, respectively. The stepwise multiple regression analysis identified three factors that predicted salary. The first was possession of a doctoral degree (R = .21); the second was possession of a master's degree (R change = .16); and the third was marital status (R change = .13). An ANOVA revealed that the high school salary was significantly less than either the clinic or college salaries and that there was no difference between clinic and college salaries, F(2,242) = 6.62, p = .0016. The mean salaries for each of the practice settings is presented in Table 2. A second ANOVA revealed significant salary differences, F(2,222) = 9.99, p < .0005 dependent upon the highest degree attained (Table 3) as well as marital status (Table 4), F(1,222) = 5.84, p = .017. There were no significant interactions. Tukey post hoc testing revealed that ATs with a doctorate earned more than ATs with a master's or bachelor's degree and that those individuals with a master's degree earned significantly more than those with a bachelor's degree. Finally, the comparison of salaries based on job description and teaching (Table 5) produced a significant interaction, F(1,240) = 7.6, p = .006. Tukey post hoc testing revealed that high school teacherathletic trainers earned more than full-time high school athletic trainers and college athletic trainers who did not teach. However, there were no differences between clinical ATs, college ATs who taught, and high school teacher-athletic trainers. DISCUSSION One of the primary findings of our study was the association between highest degree attained and practice setting. Table 1 indicates that 64.9% of the high school ATs possessed a bachelor's degree. This suggests that a bachelor's degree is the primary requirement for employment in the high school setting. Conversely, the data suggest that a master's degree is preferred in collegiate settings with 80.9% of collegiate athletic trainers possessing master's degrees. This finding was expected. Typically, academic institutions require instructors to possess an advanced degree at least one level above the level at which they teach. For example, if instructors teach at the bachelor's level, they would be required to possess at least a master's degree. This is the most likely explanation for the large number of collegiate athletic trainers possessing master's degrees. In fact, examination of the raw data indicates that 44 (58%) of the 76 collegiate ATs with a master's degree teach at their institution. Table 1. Characteristics of Athletic Trainers Hired in 1994 From the NATA Job Vacancy Notices High School Clinic College