Document Type
Event
Keywords
career choice, education, mentorship
Description
Context: Research suggests internships, mentorship, and specialized school programs positively influence career selection; however, little data exists specific to athletic training.
Objective: We identified high school (HS) experiences influencing career choice in college athletic training students (ATS).
Design: Our survey included 35 Likert-type close-ended questions, which were reviewed by a panel of faculty and peers to establish content and construct validity.
Setting: Participants completed an online questionnaire at their convenience.
Participants: 217 college ATS (153 female, 64 male) from a random selection of accredited programs on the east coast. We excluded minors, freshmen, and undecided majors from the study. Informed consent was implied by proceeding to the questionnaire.
Data Collection and Analysis: We used descriptive statistics to analyze the data collected via a secure website.
Results: Mentors were most influential in the decision of career path (62.4%;n=131/210) with 85.2% (n=138/162) reporting mentors were readily available to answer questions regarding career options and 53.1% (n=86/162) counseled them regarding HS electives. Of participants involved in an internship (41.0%;n=86/210), most developed such opportunities independently (66.3%;n=57/86). Respondents who attended traditional HS suggested providing diverse electives (71.9%;n=133/185), additional internship (53.5%;n=99/185), and mentorship (33.0%;n=61/185) opportunities to effectively educate students regarding career options.
Conclusions: College ATS that gained internship experience during HS report the opportunity positively influenced their career selection. Mentors support HS students by offering insight and expertise in guiding students’ career choices. Participants suggested HS afford diverse electives with internship and mentorship opportunities to positively influence interested students towards pursuing a career in athletic training.
Identifier
FIDC005638
High School Influences on the Selection of Athletic Training as a Career
Context: Research suggests internships, mentorship, and specialized school programs positively influence career selection; however, little data exists specific to athletic training.
Objective: We identified high school (HS) experiences influencing career choice in college athletic training students (ATS).
Design: Our survey included 35 Likert-type close-ended questions, which were reviewed by a panel of faculty and peers to establish content and construct validity.
Setting: Participants completed an online questionnaire at their convenience.
Participants: 217 college ATS (153 female, 64 male) from a random selection of accredited programs on the east coast. We excluded minors, freshmen, and undecided majors from the study. Informed consent was implied by proceeding to the questionnaire.
Data Collection and Analysis: We used descriptive statistics to analyze the data collected via a secure website.
Results: Mentors were most influential in the decision of career path (62.4%;n=131/210) with 85.2% (n=138/162) reporting mentors were readily available to answer questions regarding career options and 53.1% (n=86/162) counseled them regarding HS electives. Of participants involved in an internship (41.0%;n=86/210), most developed such opportunities independently (66.3%;n=57/86). Respondents who attended traditional HS suggested providing diverse electives (71.9%;n=133/185), additional internship (53.5%;n=99/185), and mentorship (33.0%;n=61/185) opportunities to effectively educate students regarding career options.
Conclusions: College ATS that gained internship experience during HS report the opportunity positively influenced their career selection. Mentors support HS students by offering insight and expertise in guiding students’ career choices. Participants suggested HS afford diverse electives with internship and mentorship opportunities to positively influence interested students towards pursuing a career in athletic training.