A national survey of athletic training educators' academic role strain, role orientation, and intent to leave

"Research in allied health education indicates faculty experience varying levels of role strain between academic responsibilities and clinical practice. How athletic training (AT) faculty prioritize their work and the impact on role strain and intent to leave had not been reported previously. The purposes of this investigation were to determine the degree of role strain experienced by full-time athletic training educators affiliated with accredited entry-level programs, to identify the leading components of role strain, and to examine the relationships between personal, employment and institutional characteristics, academic role orientation, academic role strain, and intent to leave. The study was conducted using a cross-sectional descriptive design to administer a web-based survey. A total of 250 full-time faculty members, solicited from a national database participated in this study, yielding a 26 % response rate. Respondents completed six questionnaires: personal, employment and institutional questionnaires, the Academic Role Orientation (ARO) Scale, the Academic Role Strain Scale - Athletic Training Educator (RSS-ATE) version, and a series of intent to leave questions. The ARO delineates eight work orientations emphasizing teaching, research, and/or service. The RSS-ATE contains 55-items measuring total role strain and 7 subscales: role incongruity, inter role conflict, inter-sender role conflict, intra-sender role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, and role incompetence. Athletic training faculty reported moderate role strain in comparison to previous reports among collegiate athletic trainers and nursing faculty. Role overload and inter-sender role conflict were the leading components of role strain. Significant relationships were found among the personal, employment, and institutional variables and role strain. Both ideal and actual role orientations as well as role orientation incongruity with supervisors, colleagues, and the institution had a significant impact on total role strain and subscale scores. Individuals with the highest total role strain scores reported a greater frequency of considering leaving their current institution, leaving the profession, and leaving higher education. Strategies for addressing role strain, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are presented. Future research exploring the role strain and role orientations of athletic training faculty should be conducted to determine their relationship on other outcomes such as job satisfaction, productivity, and turnover."--Abstract from author supplied metadata