Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2009

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Sport Studies

Major Professor

James H. Bemiller

Abstract

The Purpose of this study is to determine the impact of transformational leadership behaviors of Head Athletic Trainers (HATC's) of Division I, NCAA institutions, and identify how these practices affect the job satisfaction of the subordinate certified athletic trainers (ATC's) in their departments. This was done by looking at the five leadership practices of the HATC's as identified by the "Leadership Practice Inventory" (LPI) by Kouzes and Posner, and the job satisfaction of the subordinate certified athletic trainers using the "Job Satisfaction Survey" (JSS) by Spector. The surveys were sent by email to 1,110 ATC's at Division I institutions, where they were asked to evaluate the leadership behaviors of their HATC's with the LPI-Observer, and then to fill out the JSS to show their current satisfaction with their job. Participants were also asked to fill out basic demographic information on employment position, sex, ethnicity, age, and years of experience.The findings show that HATC's in this setting use the leadership practice of enabling others to act significantly more than the others, the practice of inspiring a shared vision significantly less than the others, while modeling the way was significantly more than encouraging the heart, and challenging the process. The results of overall job satisfaction found that ATC's in this setting were more satisfied with their jobs than the norms presented by Spector, but less satisfied than those reported of the Southeastern Conference by Barrett, et. al. Lastly it was found that particular leadership practices strongly correlated with certain facets of job satisfaction. The practice of enabling others to act was a predictor of satisfaction with the facets of promotion, supervision, fringe benefits, contingent rewards, operating conditions, and nature of work. Encouraging the heart was a predictor of satisfaction with pay, and contingent rewards.Modeling the way was a predictor of satisfaction with supervision, co-workers, nature of work, and communication. Challenging the process was found to be a predictor of satisfaction with promotion, supervision, and coworkers. The least used leadership practice of inspiring a shared vision was not found to be a predictor of any facets.

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