Abstract
Abstract
Audiology's viability as a self-sustaining, autonomous profession depends on a workforce capable of meeting population demand. This article benchmarks audiology's (AuD) workforce supply against comparable healthcare professions and projected growth in hearing loss prevalence. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 1999 to 2024, AuD workforce trends were compared with 16 other advanced-degree healthcare professions. AuD's mean annual growth rate (1.77%) ranked third lowest among 17 master's- and doctoral-level professions, well below four peer disciplines (occupational therapy, physical therapy, optometry, speech-language pathology), which grew 5.5 times faster over the same period. An input/output model of graduate production versus workforce departure showed that AuD's constrained growth stems not from insufficient educational throughput but from elevated departure rates, including abandonment of the profession. Meanwhile, the hearing aid specialist workforce grew over 200% between 2012 and 2024, suggesting substitution in core clinical functions. Population modeling projects the number of U.S. adults with hearing impairment will nearly double by 2060, widening the supply-demand gap. These findings indicate that AuD's transition to a doctoral entry-level degree introduced a lasting structural constraint on workforce capacity, with implications for access to care, professional autonomy, and audiology's positioning within value-based healthcare delivery.