The influence of gender and gender role on occupational stress for athletic training education program directors

Abstract

Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) Directors and their administration need to understand the occupational stressors related to the ATEP Director position. The purpose of this study was to investigate how gender, gender roles, personal and professional characteristics and program factors influence the occupational stress of ATEP Directors. A survey research study was used to investigate the level to which ATEP Directors experience occupational stress, how ATEP Directors self-identify according to gender roles, as well as to determine the influence gender, gender role, personal, professional and program attributes on occupational stress. The study used multivariate linear regression with a model-building approach to determine if occupational stress for ATEP Directors was a result of personal, professional or programmatic characteristics. Gender, gender role and total number of students did have an effect on the occupational stress of ATEP Directors. Female ATEP Directors experience more stress than males and ATEP Directors who identify as having more masculine-like or agentic traits regardless of biological gender, experienced less occupational stress. As the number of students in the ATEP increased, so did the occupational stress of the ATEP Director. This study presents information that heightens awareness of the occupational stress of ATEP directors and that could assist in the development of mitigation practices to decrease the negative effects of occupational stress which might include burnout, physical and mental health issues, decreased commitment to job, and decreased job satisfaction and attrition.