Transformational Leadership and Programmatic Outcomes: A Correlational Study of Athletic Training Programs

The study of leadership practices of athletic training program directors is severely limited and the lack of clearly defined program director qualifications combined to provide the underpinnings for this research. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to identify if a relationship existed between athletic training program directors’ leadership practices and the programs’ 2012-14 academic years three-year aggregate first-time pass rates on the Board of Certification, Inc. examination. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the first five research questions sought to examine the directors’ relationship of the Five Exemplary Practices of Leadership ® and the directors’ previous coursework in leadership to program pass rates. Athletic training programs’ directors ( N = 52) were solicited to participate, and completed the Leadership Practices Inventory-Self® and provided demographic information. Results from the Spearman’s rho correlation analysis indicated no significant relationship between any of the five leadership practices (Modeling the Way rs=-.159, p=.261; Inspiring a Shared Vision rs=.086, p=.545; Challenging the Process rs=.011, p=.937; Enabling Others to Act rs=.047, p=.743; Encouraging the Heart rs=-.039, p=.782) or the number of collegiate courses completed in leadership (rs=-.192, p=.181). Even though the results were not significant, the findings will contribute to an understanding of the inconsistencies and significant lack of leadership coursework for athletic training program directors. Additional research is needed to determine how leaderships effects student outcomes in athletic training education