Context: Female athletic trainers (ATs) are currently underrepresented in the collegiate setting. Parenting and family obligations may play a role in this underrepresentation.Objective: To examine female ATs' perspectives on parenting and working in the secondary school and collegiate employment settings.Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Online survey. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 1000 nonstudent, female certified ATs who were currently members of the National Athletic Trainers' Association.Main Outcome Measure(s): An original survey was developed to assess perceptions related to motherhood and work responsibilities. Descriptive statistics were used to assess age, years of experience as a certified AT, employment position, and parent or nonparent status. A correlation matrix was conducted to determine factors among parent and nonparent status, perceptions of motherhood, and employment-setting decisions.Results: Of the 1000 surveys sent via e-mail, 411 (41.1%) female ATs responded. Responses indicated that a majority of the female ATs worked in the secondary school setting. Sixtyone percent of the respondents did not have children. Past female ATs' experiences indicated a perception that motherhood created more challenges or struggles (or both) in the work and family settings. Whether parents considered children a factor in employment-setting changes produced conflicting results: no significant correlations or differences were found among responses.Conclusions: Parenting considerations had influences on both the home and employment settings. Although parents and nonparents had different views on the implications of parenting in the workplace, both groups agreed that parenting could affect the work environment and the choice to change employment settings and careers. Administrative decisions need to be considered in relation to parenting concerns. Mentoring that includes employment-setting choices relative to life goals should be provided to ATs, regardless of sex.

The perceived effectiveness of rugby union headgear in reducing concussions in American male collegiate rugby union athletes was assessed. Data collection was conducted by survey method distributed using electronic mail. One hundred and thirty-one men's club rugby union participants from eight university teams in the United States were surveyed. Demographic data were assessed using frequencies, means, and standard deviations. An ANOVA was used to assess differences in the frequencies of responses between players with concussions and their perception of headgear, with an increase in positive perception of headgear with increased concussions. Player position and years of experience played a role in the number of concussions and use of protective headgear. Seventy-six different athletes reported a concussion while playing, with the majority (51%) not wearing headgear. Athletes who wore headgear experienced 24% of the concussions, compared to 76% of those who did not wear headgear. The incidence of concussions and severity of concussions were perceived as less severe among the group wearing headgear. The general perception of those individuals polled as to the effectiveness of headgear in reducing head injuries was positive.

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