Gender Inequality in Collegiate Coaching

Full Article: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/03/what-gender-inequality-looks-like-in-collegiate-sports/387985/

In the May 27th class (module 10), gender and sport was discussed.  Among this discussion was the topic of female coaches after the implementation of Title IX.  Since the installment of Title IX, women as coaches, both at the high school level and the collegiate level, have decreased by about 50%.  As the module states, in college coaching

• Before Title IX (1972), 90% of coaches were women
• Today about 43% of coaches are women
• About 84% of new coaching positions go to men

The module also gives reason of why there is such an underrepresentation of women coaches;

• Many women do not see spaces for them in corporate cultures of sports programs
• Sport organizations are seldom sensitive to family responsibilities among coaches and administrators
• Women may anticipate sexual harassment and more demanding standards then those used to judge men

In the article above by Terrance Ross, he talks about this gender inequality that is present in collegiate sports today.  The article isn't just about women's underrepresentation in sports, but also the unequal salaries that are seen between male and female coaches.  In 1963, John Kennedy passed the Equal Pay Act which called for an end to sex discrimination in the workplace.  This Act was to provide equal pay to both men and women for the same line of work that required similar skills.  This Act has clearly not been upheld.  The article states that there is a significant difference in salaries between males and their female counterparts.  At the University of Kansas, the highest paid male coaching position is $1,258,997; its female counterpart in $180,953. The average pay of a male head coach at the University of Kansas is $251,799; the average pay of a female head coach is $20,106; the difference: $231,694.

The top five biggest head coach salary gaps for NCAA Division 1, Classification: A, AA, and AAA

This unequal pay is also applied to male head coaches of women's sports.  University of Connecticut's women's head basketball coach, Geno Auriemma, makes a little over $2 million. Auriemma has lead his team to 9 national titles.  To put this in perspective, look at Duke's men's head basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski who makes about $10 million a year and led the Blue Devils to only 5 national titles.  These salary gaps are due to differences in popularity and profit levels between male and female sports.

Another problem the article addresses is the declining number of women coaches.  Although Title IX allowed the number of female participants in sports to increase, it also allowed the number of male coaches to increase.  Before Title IX, 90% of female teams were coached by women.  Now the percentage is only roughly 43%. Statistics show the percentage of women coaches when the athletic director is a male compared to when the athletic director is female.

Percentage of Female Coaches when Athletic Director is Male:

Percentage of Female Coaches when Athletic Director is Female:

This difference, according to the article, is because women are more open to new ideas and experimenting with different people.  Men, on the other hand, hire who they know and don't venture out and explore other options that are available to them, like hiring a female coach. 

Not only is salary and underrepresentation an issue, but how much financial aid is given to men's sports compared to women's is also a problem.  The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act of 1994 made it mandatory for all colleges who receive federal funds to make publicly available all gender-equality information about their athletic programs.  Below are the top ten institutions with the lowest percentage of recruiting expenses for women's teams.

Data from money-in-men-and-women-athletics-finance.silk.co

At the University of Minnesota Duluth, Shannon Miller, the women's hockey team head coach, was released due to financial constraints of the University.  Miller won 5 NCAA Division 1 titles and acquired 300 wins faster than any coach in Division 1 history.  If this coach were to be a male, the University would scramble around until it found enough funds to keep its' prized winning coach. Despite the Equal Pay Act and the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, along with Title IX, these gender inequality issue are still present in coaching and administrative jobs involving athletics today.

References and Additional Reading:

Ross, T. (2015). What Gender Inequality Looks Like in Collegiate Sports. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/03/what-gender-inequality-looks-like-in-collegiate-sports/387985/

Silk. (2014). Money In Men's and Women's Sports. Silk. Retrieved from http://money-in-men-and-women-athletics-finance.silk.co/

Sommer, C. (2010). Fair Pay Isn't Always Equal Pay. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/opinion/22Sommers.html?_r=0

U.S. Department of Education. (2009). Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/finaid/prof/resources/athletics/eada.html

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2015). Equal Pay Act of 1963. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm