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.
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