Women and Athletic Training

 Women have been taking on jobs involving health care for years. They initially began taking on the role of the nurse when demand for them struck in World War II. When one thinks of a nurse, they typically envision a female. So why is it that even after going through two World Wars with similar roles, the first female member of the National Athletic Trainer Association (NATA), wasn’t admitted until 1966? And why is it that it took so many years following Dotty Cohen, the first female member, for the percentage of athletic trainers across the nation to reach close to 50/50? 

Even as women started to be accepted into the field of athletic training, they were still at a huge disadvantage compared to men. For example, women weren’t allowed in athletic training rooms and had to be treated in the hallways by men. Honestly, this rule reflected how women’s sports were treated at the time — as second class members. Women had such a small spectrum of sports they could be involved in, and even so they were discouraged from participating at all. Title IX helped change this, and is one of the main reasons that opportunities for women in athletic training changed as well. Although many changes have been made as of 2019 (56% of athletic trainers are women, 44% are men), there are still some changes to be made at the collegiate level and regarding salaries. In 2019, only 31.7% of head athletic trainers in the NCAA were women. However, the upside is that the majority of the 68.3% of men athletic trainers in the NCAA are towards the end of their career and getting ready to retire. The hope and probability is that a good amount of the new generation that will be hired to fill those positions will be women, evening out those percentages. 

Another big issue is the difference in salaries between male and female athletic trainers. It is interesting that 1-5 years of experience has an average difference of $4,000, 6-10 years of experience has an average difference of $3,000, and 16-20 years of experience has an average difference of $10,000. It makes sense that 16-20 years of experience has the biggest difference — women were still getting into the field and weren’t as encouraged to get into athletic training. However, it is hopeful that 1-5 years of experience has less of a difference — the pay gap is starting to decrease. However, A $4,000 is still a hefty difference. How long is it going to take to make it $0?