Interest and Perceived Discrimination in the Coaching Profession: Gender and Racial Differences Among College Athletes (Sport Management)

Despite the large number of women and racial minorities participating in college athletics today, both comprise a small percentage of college coaches. Since Title IX was enacted in 1972, women head coaches have decreased from 90% in 1972 to 44% in 2002 (Acosta & Carpenter, 2004). Additionally, few minority coaches are entering the coaching profession (Lapchick, 2001). Several explanations have been offered, including gender and racial bias as well as discrimination. It may also be that women and minorities are less interested in the coaching profession. The purpose of this study was to examine college athletes’ interest in entering the coaching profession as well as their perception of discrimination in the coaching profession. A total of 139 Division I athletes from eight different sports (66 males and 73 females) participated in this study. The sample also included 31 minority athletes (23 African Americans, 5 Hispanics, and 3 indicating “other”). The athletes completed the Coaching Interest Survey, the Perceived Hindrance Scale modified from Everhart and Chelladurai (1998), and specific questions about the race/gender of current and past coaches, interest in coaching at different levels, and perceived race/gender discrimination in coaching. Descriptive analyses as well as chi-square analyses were computed. Regarding their interest, men were more likely to indicate their interest in entering a coaching position at the Division I level, c² (4, N = 138) = 14.07, p <.01, as well as the professional level, c² (4, N =136) = 20.03, p <.01. In addition, Caucasian/European Americans indicated a stronger interest in coaching at the college level (non Division I) compared to minority athletes, c² (12, N =137) = 22.80, p <. 05). When asked if they believed men and women coaches were treated differently, women were more likely to agree, c ² (1, N =133) = 20.35, p <.01. Similarly, when asked if they believed coaches were treated differently in sport based on their race and ethnicity, minority athletes were more likely to agree, c² (3, N =134) = 17.67, p <.01. These results, and parallel results on other items, suggest that women and minorities are less interested in certain levels of the coaching profession, and both women and minorities are more likely to perceive barriers and discrimination in college coaching. Additional results will be presented and directions for future research as well as implications for practice will be discussed.
Keyword(s): coaching, diversity, gender issues