Keywords
Association for Athletic Training Education 2025 Symposium
Abstract
Introduction: The confluence of fluctuating retention, fewer students entering professional programs, and the profession’s identity crisis (conflict between being a sports profession or a health profession) has created a serious question about the vitality of the athletic profession. However, research on the vitality of the profession has often focused on singular variables influencing professional identity, burnout, and commitment. The purpose of this project was to explore multiple factors influencing the vitality of the profession across professional identity and commitment in athletic training. Methods: We used a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, including surveys and interviews with athletic training students and athletic trainers at various points in the career span. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design allowed the research team to collect qualitative and quantitative data concurrently, analyze the data separately, and compare and contrast findings related to the same research question. This study included samples of athletic training students in the second year of their professional masters in athletic training program (n=8), practicing athletic trainers (n=327 [qualitative]; n=16 [qualitative]), and athletic trainers who have forfeited their credential within the last three years (n=12). We used traditional recruitment techniques including emailing through professional program directors, national organizations (NATA and BOC), and social media to identify potential participants for each line of inquiry. We used validated surveys for intent to leave, professional commitment, and professional identity as well as content validated interview scripts. Quantitive data were analyzed for characteristics of central tendency and comparisons across generations for turnover intention, professional identity, and professional commitment using one-way ANOVAs, Kruskal-Wallis calculations, and linear regression. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis originating from ethnographic, phenomenological, and post-modernist traditions. Reflexivity, multi-analyst triangulation, member-checking, and auditing established trustworthiness of the analysis. Data are presented chronologically across the careerspan. All components of the study were deemed exempt by Indiana State University’s Institutional Review Board. Results: Among the athletic training students, the data suggested that students come into the program with their identity anchored in things like sport, healthcare, and altruism, while the program influences their professional commitment and identity yielding a vision for the future that includes professional engagement that relies on the breadth of opportunities in athletic training. Among the studies of practicing athletic trainers, the results suggest generational differences on levels of turnover intention (p<.001), professional identity (p<.001), and professional commitment (p<.001), whereby Baby Boomers expressed high levels of turnover intention (logically, as they transition into retirement), but also stronger levels of professional identity than the other groups. Millennials showed the strongest levels of professional commitment. Collectively, generation, turnover intention, and professional identity were significant and moderately predictive of professional commitment (R2=0.308, b=26.12, p<.001); however, turnover intention alone was the most powerful, inversely predictive factor (r=-0.550, p<.001) of professional commitment. In interviews with mid to late career athletic trainers, they identified supportive and fatiguing factors that impact their persistence in athletic training. They also described developmental factors, specifically a need to adapt and advocate for themselves, as well as a need for experiences to develop resilience for the challenges that come with being an athletic trainer. Among the athletic trainers who have forfeited their credential, they demonstrated high levels of professional identity (92.01±12.10) and they described conflict in the local environment and in the values of the athletic training profession, both of which impacted their professional identity as an athletic trainer. As they described their migration out of athletic training, much of what served them was their personal values, anchoring them as they moved away from jobs where they had invested time and money into their training. Translation to Practice: Athletic training educators and leaders should integrate strategies to strengthen professional identity and commitment among both students and practicing athletic trainers. For students, curricula should emphasize resilience-building and self-advocacy while showcasing diverse career opportunities across the breadth of the profession. For practicing professionals, targeted development programs should address generational needs, offering support for career transitions and fostering adaptability. We must consider that the vitality of the profession is not the responsibility of one sector of education, but a responsibility across the career span of the athletic trainer. These initiatives can collectively enhance professional engagement, retention, and the vitality of athletic training.
Recommended Citation
Eberman, L E.; Rivera, M J.; Games, K E.; Drescher, M J.; Young, J P.; Clifton-Gaw, J; Condrey, K; McCarn, H; Mondelli, N; and Yuan, X
(2025)
"Exploring the Vitality of Athletic Training: Insights into Professional Identity, Commitment, and Retention,"
Clinical Practice in Athletic Training: Vol. 8:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/clinat/vol8/iss1/4
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