Female physicians may be underrepresented as NCAA head team physicians
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Key takeaways:
- Female physicians may be underrepresented as head team physicians for NCAA programs.
- Female orthopedic surgeons were 38% less likely to be a head team physician vs. male orthopedic surgeons.
Published results showed female physicians may be underrepresented as head team physicians for NCAA programs compared with male physicians.
Olivia R. French, BS, from Tulane University School of Medicine, and colleagues used the NCAA member directory from the 2022 to 2023 academic year to assess gender disparities for 182 head team physician roles from 186 athletic programs across Divisions I, II and III. French and colleagues noted four head team physician roles were unfilled at the time of the study.
Overall, French and colleagues found 25 of 182 (13.7%) head team physicians were women. They found nine of 69 (13%) Division I head team physicians, eight of 64 (12.5%) Division II head team physicians and eight of 49 (16.3%) Division III head team physicians were women.
Among the 67 head team physicians who were orthopedic surgeons, five (7.5%) were women and 62 (92.5%) were men. French and colleagues noted no Division I program had a female head team physician that was an orthopedic surgeon.
French and colleagues concluded female orthopedic surgeons were 38% less likely to be a head team physician compared with male orthopedic surgeons.
“These findings support the need for improved gender diversity of [head team physicians] in the NCAA, encouraging further research on the correlation between female physicians and their consideration for a [head team physician] position,” French and colleagues wrote in the study.
Perspective
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Olivia R. French, BS, and colleagues showed that significant gender disparities existed during the 2022 to 2023 academic year at Division I, II and III top athletic programs. Overall, they found that only 25 of 182 (13.7%) head team physicians were women. Among the 67 head team physicians who were orthopedic surgeons, five (7.5%) were women and 62 (92.5%) were men. No Division I program had a female head team physician that was an orthopedic surgeon.
Women have made up most of medical students since 2019, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. However, the significant gender gap in orthopedic surgery still exists. Only 6% of board-certified orthopedic surgeons are women, which is the lowest percentage of women across all medical fields.
According to the NCAA, female athletes made up 43.5% during the 2021 to 2022 NCAA season. The representation of women in NCAA leadership roles continues to grow but still remains unbalanced. Women make up 25% of athletic directors, 25% of head coaches and 35% of head athletic trainers across the NCAA.
The pipeline for training orthopedic surgeons is filled with women. Yet, women in orthopedic surgery remain underrepresented. In the United States, 57% of undergraduate students and 51% of medical students are women. However, JAMA reported in 2019 that only 15.4% of orthopedic residents were women, which is the lowest percentage of female residents across all top 10 specialties by residency size.
To help increase the number of women in top athletic positions, organizations can provide mentorships, promote pipeline programs, identify barriers, implement strategies to foster inclusion and career development, recognize unconscious bias and increase the visibility of women in leadership roles.
References:
Active physician by sex and specialty, 2019. https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/workforce/data/active-physicians-sex-and-specialty-2019. Accessed Oct. 4, 2024.
Brotherton SE, et al. JAMA. 2019;doi:10.1001/jama.2019.10155.
DeMaio M. Making the case (again) for gender equity. https://www.aaos.org/aaosnow/2019/jun/youraaos/youraaos05/. Published June 1, 2019. Accessed Oct. 4, 2024.
McGuire C. A look at trends for women in college sports. https://www.ncaa.org/news/2023/3/1/media-center-a-look-at-trends-for-women-in-college-sports.aspx. Published March 1, 2023. Accessed Oct. 4, 2024.
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