As a newly elected member of the Broadlawns Medical Center board of trustees, I get invited to many health-care conferences outside the usual circles of the nursing profession. These conferences are mostly aimed at physicians, hospital administrators and hospital board members.

As I was perusing the schedule for a future conference, there it was — the requisite golf outing that has become a fixture in the corporate world.

Why has this tradition persisted?

I believe it exists for several reasons. One of the most significant is that whole companies have sprung up to arrange corporate golf functions. Large parts of the economy depend on corporate America engaging their services. An online check revealed prominent advertising from a myriad of golf companies. Business must be good for so many to exist.

Another reason, perhaps more subtle, is the underlying assumption that most board members and administrators of large companies are men, and that decisions about hospitals and health care are still being made on the golf course.

It is interesting that boys continue to be very committed to playing golf during their adolescent years, yet girls from an early age prefer group sports, such as soccer. At one high school in Des Moines, many boys try out for the golf team and most are cut from the varsity squad. However, there are barely enough girls to field a team.

A third reason is the assumption that people in corporate leadership positions have grown up privileged enough to afford lessons and golf clubs. This may or may not be true. It is, however, highly unlikely that adults who had no experience as a child in playing the game of golf would have the time to learn the sport well enough to play at outings.

The golf outing could be viewed as a discriminatory activity in terms of gender and economic status.

Personally, I hate golf. It is time-consuming, and whiffing a shot humiliates me. I am not interested in paying the $50 fee to spend four hours being miserable. That I would be able to discuss business while trying to decide which club to select is unthinkable.

Additionally, getting those clubs on the plane and then toting them to and from the conference is a pain.

Why are women, in particular, afraid to speak out against the practice? It is simple. They fear they will be labeled as non-players, demoted or fired. Women have worked too hard to reach the upper rungs of corporate America to criticize a tradition so firmly ingrained in the U.S. business culture.

As a nurse in a female-dominated profession, I have never been to a conference where a golf outing was included in the package. Apparently, nurses think networking through conversation between and during educational sessions is the best route to making decisions about health-care policy.

More people need to become risk takers and start speaking out against the hallowed practice of the golf outing. Ending this tradition would remove important decision-making about health-care policy from the links and give more voice to all participants.

Jean Logan is a professor of nursing at Grand View College and a member of the board of trustees at Broadlawns Medical Center.