Perceptions of Leadership Competency Among Doctorate in Athletic Training Graduates

Abstract

Context Within the athletic training profession, Doctor of Athletic Training (DAT) programs are expected to develop advanced practice leaders; however, little is known about whether this is achieved. Objective Assess DAT graduates' perceived importance and confidence in performing personal leadership competencies as well as the level of influence a DAT program had on the development of these competencies. Design Cross-sectional design. Setting A 73-item Web-based survey. Patients or Other Participants Seventy-seven DAT graduates, from a possible 205 graduates responded to the survey. Forty-five respondents completed the survey (21.9%) and were included in this study (age = 31.5 ± 6.1 years; years since graduating from DAT = 1.13 ± 0.90; years of experience = 8.69 ± 5.6; years employed at current job = 3.00 ± 4.04). Intervention(s) Each participant completed a questionnaire with 7 demographic items and 66 items to assess perceived importance, confidence, and influence of the DAT on 22 personal leadership competencies. The questionnaire was adapted from the Leadership Development in Athletic Training instrument. Main Outcome Measure(s) Descriptive statistics were used to characterize participant demographics and assess the perceived importance, confidence, and influence of the DAT program on leadership competencies. Partial data were included in the analysis. Results All competencies were rated as important or higher with critical thinking (mean = 4.84 ± 0.37) rated very important (mode = 5, n = 37/45, 82.2%). Graduates were moderately confident or higher on all competencies with being credible (mean = 4.5 ± 0.55) rated extremely confident (mode = 5, n = 23/45, 51.1%). Graduates indicated that the DAT was extremely influential on their being future minded (mean = 4.63 ± 0.58; mode = 5, n = 29/45, 64.4%). Conclusions Doctor of Athletic Training graduates' perceptions suggest that programs may be meeting the goal of developing advanced practice leaders. Respondents indicated higher perceptions of confidence in competencies they deemed as important. Respondents also indicated that DAT programs were influential in shaping their perceptions about certain leadership competencies. Other factors may influence graduates' perceptions outside of the DAT, such as previous education and experience.