Browsing by Subject "women coaches"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Accelerating Systems Change for NCAA Women Sport Coaches: A Multi-Study Perspective
    (2022-08) Boucher, Courtney
    The underrepresentation of women head coaches of women’s teams at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level is well-documented, as are the barriers that impact that underrepresentation. Multiple sources of data report the percent of women coaching women’s teams has remained stagnant at approximately 40- 43% for more than a decade (Acosta & Carpenter, 2014; Silva-Breen et al., 2022; Wilson, 2022). One contributing factor of underrepresentation is the gendered culture of sport. While not the only problem women coaches face, it is a salient one. To change organizational culture of sport this line of inquiry addressed three specific barriers. First, the pervasive and systematic reproduction of the power of athletics directors (ADs) in and through the hiring process. Second, widespread deleterious blame narratives that hinder the entry into and career trajectory of women coaches. Third, unsupportive organizational policies and practices that disproportionately disadvantage women coaches were examined.This series of three interrelated studies was developed to specifically address each of these barriers that contribute to the underrepresentation of women sport coaches. Study I tested the statistical significance, and existence or absence of homologous reproduction at the NCAA Division-I level through quantitative analysis. Based on the data, gendered hiring patterns emerged. Results indicated that homologous reproduction was present in ADs’ hiring of head coaches of women’s teams. The second study used Heffernan’s (2018) grounded theory of gender allyship in sport to understand ADs who disrupt the gendered hiring process by hiring a majority of women over nine years. Nine eligible ADs (n = 56, 16.1%) were interviewed to ascertain their awareness, capacity and action for allyship and how and why they hired a majority of women head coaches for their women's teams. Findings indicated the existence of both gender allyship and capacity in ADs at the NCAA Division I level. Finally, Study III employed a critical feminist and multi-level perspective to examine the factors that influence intercollegiate women coaches to leave their current coaching position, apply for a new position, and accept or decline a job offer. Qualitative data were collected from women who coach 20 different sports within NCAA Division I, II, and III (n = 118). Analysis of the data revealed factors at the macro-level (i.e., location, program notoriety, aligning mission), meso-level (i.e., administrative support, work environment, salary, availability of resources, growth opportunities), and micro-level (i.e., burnout, emotional well-being) together impact occupational and employment decision making. Results were discussed regarding women's occupational attributions and thought processes which then provided strategies to better support, recruit and retain women in coaching. As a result of this series of studies, common ‘blame the women’ narratives often cited by athletics directors for the underrepresentation of women in coaching (Kane & LaVoi, 2018) were refuted. A call for more women in AD positions along with more (male) gender allies was made. Many ally strategies were provided. Theoretical, empirical, and practical implications were suggested. Limitations and future research were forwarded.
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    Are Women Coached by Women More Likely to Become Sport Coaches? Head Coach Gender and Female Collegiate Athletes’ Entry into the Coaching Profession
    (2018-05) Wasend, Matea
    While sport and gender researchers have examined the barriers facing women in the coaching profession, less attention has been devoted to female student-athletes’ transition into coaching. Some research suggests that female athletes who have been coached by women are more likely to become coaches (Everhart & Chelladurai, 1998; Lirgg, Dibrezzo, & Smith, 1994; Moran-Miller & Flores, 2011), but research is limited and findings somewhat equivocal. The present study extends existing research by examining the relationship between collegiate female basketball players’ career behavior and the gender of their collegiate head coach. Three research questions based on previous research are addressed: (1) Are female collegiate Division I basketball players who are coached by female head coaches more likely to enter the coaching profession than athletes who are coached by male coaches?; (2) If female collegiate Division I basketball players do enter coaching, are they more likely to coach at a higher level if they were coached by a female head coach than if they were coached by a male?; and (3) If female Division I collegiate basketball players do enter coaching, are those who were coached by women more likely to persist in coaching than those who were coached by men? Head coach gender did not emerge as a significant predictor of athletes’ likelihood to enter coaching or occupational coaching level, but logistic regression indicated that athletes who did enter coaching were 4.1 times more likely to stay in coaching if they had a female head collegiate coach than if they had a male coach. This study extends the scarce body of research on the potential salience of same-sex coaching role models for female athletes and provides groundbreaking baseline data on collegiate athletes’ rate of entry into coaching, lending support to advocacy aimed at reversing the current stagnation of women in sport leadership.
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    I Love Being their Last Coach: Analyzing the Career Pathways and Profiles of Women Head Coaches with Career Longevity in NCAA D-I
    (2020-06) Baeth, Anna
    Empirical studies have documented a drastic decline and a continuing stagnation in the percentage of women in collegiate coaching positions since the inception of Title IX in 1972 (LaVoi, 2018a; Lapchick, 2017; Acosta & Carpenter, 2014). Although a number of researchers have examined why women leave coaching, limited attention has been given to those that stay in coaching for the duration of their careers. The purpose of this study is to examine NCAA D-I women head coaches with a career longevity of 20 or more years as a function of their demographic background and career trajectories. Using a three-phase, mixed-method explanatory design of a quantitative followed by a qualitative evaluation (Creswell, Plano Clark, Gutmann, & Hanson, 2003), the first phase of this study includes the development of a dataset of the biographical profiles of every female head coach of a women’s sport program with career longevity. After identifying several key factors in those coaches’ demographics and career trajectories, the second and third phases included qualitative, narrative-based interviews to verify and potentially identify other support networks and factors which have allowed them to survive and thrive within the profession. Findings have implications for current and future female coaches, while also providing insight as to how institutions can better retain women in the profession.