Today, March 3, 2011, the new study regarding racial and gender hiring practices was released for the NCAA. The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport released the report at the University of Central Florida. This was the first report since 2008 so the grades included data from both the 2009 and 2010 report. The report includes data collected from schools in Divisions I, II, and III. Although the numbers increased more dramatically for racial hiring practices, this blog is specific to gender hiring practices.
The overall grade received for gender hiring practices was a B, which is better than the previous C+ received in 2008. The highest marks received were in women’s basketball head coaches, assistant coaches for all women’s teams and senior women’s administrators. Other categories receiving excellent grades were gender hiring at both NCAA headquarters and administration in athletic departments. Categories receiving F’s were conference commissioners and Division I athletic directors.
In all, the NCAA was very pleased to see an increase in women’s participation in coaching and administration positions in sports. I too was pleased to see improvement but think there is still a TON of room for improvement. One such area for improvement includes the involvement of women in men’s sports. I think the only way to successfully show equality among men and women is for a female coach to be seen as the head coach for a men’s program. A few candidates to accomplish such a feat are Pat Summit (University of Tennessee), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), and Joanne McCallie (Duke University).
It is a bittersweet day for women because they have shown good signs of improvement but are still not satisfied with the results. I wish women the best of luck with future improvements.
Ricky Malott
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