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COPYRIGHT 2007 American Physical Therapy Association, Inc.
Much study on the career development of women in the health care professions has focused on women in historically male-dominated professions, such as medicine (1-3) and veterinary medicine. (4,5) However, sex differences in career development also have been reported for historically female-dominated professions, such as nursing and physical therapy. (6-8) Data have shown sex differences in physical therapists' employment status (7,9) and practice setting. (7,10) Sex differences in physical therapists' income also have been documented, (6,11) although differences in income may be related to other career differences, including employment status (9) and practice setting. (11)
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has long been aware of sex differences in the careers of physical therapists. In 1991, the APTA Executive Committee appointed a task force to focus on women's issues in physical therapy. (10) The APTA House of Delegates adopted goals in 1992 to improve the status of women in physical therapy; these goals were subsequently amended twice. (10) The 4 goals of the plan are: (1) to increase awareness of the issues of inequity for women, (2) to recognize barriers to professional growth and career development and promote mechanisms to eliminate or reduce these barriers, (3) to promote physical therapy as a life-long profession, and (4) to provide for the systematic evaluation of women's status and APTA action concerning women's issues. However, the goals of APTA for improving the status of women are focused on physical therapists, rather than physical therapist students. It is possible that physical therapist students exhibit sex differences in career expectations. If that is the case, then the recognition of barriers to the full range of career options and the promotion of mechanisms to eliminate or reduce these barriers may best be implemented during students' professional education, rather than after entry into the profession.
There is no research to indicate whether physical therapist students enter their professional programs with sex differences in career expectations. Knowledge of students' career expectations as they begin their professional education may provide initial insight as to whether sex differences exist and, if so, whether such differences mirror the current sex differences in physical therapists' career paths. If APTA is to achieve the aforementioned goals for improving the status of women in physical therapy, then interventions to support women's career development and participation in the flail range of career options may best be targeted to students as well as clinicians. The purpose of this study was to determine whether physical therapist students show evidence of sex differences in career expectations before any potential influences from faculty and clinicians during their professional education.
Method
Survey Instrument
Mailed questionnaires were used to collect data in this descriptive study of first-year professional physical therapist students (Appendix). A description of the survey development and an assessment of its content validity are provided elsewhere. (12,13)
Previous research explored the factors that influence the educational aspirations of high school students, those that influence college graduates to persist to graduate education and to choose a particular graduate program, and those that influence college graduates' academic and career expectations. Those data suggested for use in the survey the factors, besides sex, that might explain physical therapist students' career expectations. These factors included socioeconomic status (SES), (14-18) other demographic characteristics, (14,16) student ability, (14-17) and institutional characteristics. (17) Questions 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 19-23, 2629, and 31 were used in this study; some additional items were used in 2 studies previously conducted by this author. (12,13)
Sample
A random sample of 10 accredited physical therapist education programs in the United States (cluster sampling) was drawn from 4 stratified groups: programs in private institutions conferring the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree, programs in private institutions conferring the Master of Physical Therapy (MPT) degree, programs in public institutions conferring the DPT degree, and programs in public institutions conferring the MPT degree. The physical therapist education programs were stratified to ensure the representation of students in both public and private programs and both MPT and DPT degree programs. An explanation of the target sample size is provided in a previously published study. (12)
Procedure
The directors of selected programs were contacted first by mail to provide a brief description of the purpose of the study. Telephone and e-mail follow-up to these directors was done within 2 weeks to elicit their participation. They were offered descriptive data to be generated by the study on the factors that influenced students to choose their program or similar programs and the students' career expectations following graduation. Program directors who did not respond to the second contact were recontacted via both telephone and e-mail 2 weeks later, and those not responding to the third contact were contacted again 4 weeks later.
Survey questionnaires, along with a cover letter, were mailed to the faculty facilitator approximately 1 week prior to the matriculation date of the program. Because data have shown that even nonfinancial incentives can increase the response rate, (19) an assortment of chewing gum was included for the students filling out the survey questionnaires. The faculty contacts were requested to distribute the survey questionnaires to students either during orientation or anytime within the first 2 weeks of the program. Large, serf-addressed envelopes with prepaid postage were included in the survey packets to allow faculty members to mail the survey to the faculty facilitator back in groups. Attached to the return envelopes was a form asking the faculty members to indicate the number of students enrolled in the first-year professional class to allow calculation of the response rate. No determination of differences between nonrespondents and respondents could be made. The cover letter for the survey advised the potential respondents that any oral or written study reports would contain only grouped data and that no individual respondents would be identified.
Data Analysis
Descriptive data compilation included means and standard deviations for continuous data and frequencies and percentages for categorical data. Chi-square analysis was used to test for proportional differences in career expectations between men and women. Asymptotic probabilities were obtained for the chi-square values unless fewer than 5 cases were expected in a cell. For the latter situation, exact probabilities were obtained for the chi-square...
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