Regional Differences In Salary For Clinical Exercise Physiologists: The CEPA 2020 Clinical Practice Survey

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

9-1-2023

Publication Title

Med Sci Sports Exerc

Abstract

In March of 2022 the Clinical Exercise Physiology Association (CEPA) published its third clinical practice and salary survey which revealed a lower median salary for women ($53,751) clinical exercise physiologists (CEP) compared to men ($61,251). This wage discrepancy remained when mean hourly wage was compared after controlling for years of work experience and academic degree. One possible explanation for this discrepancy could be region of the country, which was not fully explored in the March publication. PURPOSE: To assess regional salary data from the 2020 CEPA Clinical Practice and Salary Survey to determine if a wage discrepancy exists at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) regional level as well as the national level. METHODS: Data from the 2020 CEPA Clinical Practice and Salary Survey was used for analysis. The Midwest (n = 161) and Southeast regions (n = 133) were analyzed. Other regions of the country had much smaller response rates for the 2020 survey. Median annual salary data was calculated and mean hourly wage data was compared by sex using analysis of covariance with years of experience, academic degree and clinical certification as covariates. RESULTS: The median salary for full-time CEPs was $56,251 and $53,751 for the Midwest and Southeast regions, respectively. In the Midwest, median salary was $68,751 for men and $48,751 for women. In the Southeast, median salary was $58,751 and $48,751 for men and women, respectively. The mean hourly wage in the Midwest was $31.13 and $28.72 in the Southeast. By sex, the hourly wage in the Midwest was $34.97 ± $14.43 in men and $29.18 ± $13.93 in women and was $31.03 ± 12.35 and $26.88 ± $12.50 in the Southeast. When controlled for years of work experience, academic degree, and clinical certification, the mean hourly wage was significantly lower for women in the Midwest region (P = 0.04), whereas there was no significant difference in the Southeast region. (P = 0.5). CONCLUSION: Results show that median salary was higher in the Midwest ACSM region compared to the Southeast, particularly for men, and that median salary was lower for women in both regions. When controlling for years of experience, education and certification status, a gender inequity remained in the Midwest region for hourly wage, whereas it did not in the Southeast.

Volume

55

Issue

9

First Page

134

Last Page

135

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