Racial and Ethnic Diversity of Athletic Trainers of the National Collegiate Athletic Association: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Abstract Context: Athletic trainers (ATs) are the most visible members of the sports medicine team and are responsible for the health and well-being of student-athletes (SAs). Objective: Quantifying the representation from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) ATs in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) member institutions has not been previously studied. Design: Retrospective study Setting: National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Demographic Database Participants: NCAA teams' athletic personnel at NCAA member institutions. Main Measures: Chi-square tests were employed to assess differences in racial and ethnic frequencies across division, calendar year and gender. Linear regressions models were used to examine change in racial and ethnic distributions of head and assistant ATs over time. Results: The majority of NCAA athletic trainers were categorized as white (88%), which was reflected in both head (90.8%) and assistant (87.2%) AT positions. Black ATs made up the largest proportion of a specific racial/ethnicity group within BIPOC ATs (3.4% of head ATs, 4.6% of assistant ATs), with the next most prevalent being Hispanic (2.8% of head ATs, 3.9% of assistant ATs). Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) showed higher proportions of BIPOC ATs in both head and assistant categories compared to non-HBCU institutions. Division I schools had the greatest AT racial/ethnicity diversity in comparison to Division II and Division III (p<0.0001). In our linear regression models, we found statistically significant increases in many of the racial/ethnic categories for both head and assistant ATs. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that BIPOC ATs represent a small proportion of the ATs currently working at NCAA member institutions. Although there has been an increase in BIPOC athletic trainers over the past ten years, a large racial and ethnic discordance gap still exists between student athletes and the ATs caring for them. Future studies may identify barriers encountered by BIPOC ATs and the effectiveness of current diversity initiatives.