Scheduled for Research Consortium Sport Management, Recreation and Leisure Poster Session, Friday, April 28, 2006, 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area I


Exploring the Role of Gender in the Head Coach-Supervisor Dyad and the Subsequent Levels of Support and Satisfaction

Aaron W. Clopton1, Michael Sagas2 and Jason Sosa2, (1)University Of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, (2)Texas A&M University–College Station, College Station, TX

Perpetual research efforts continue to advance the notion of a diverse environment among coaches and administrators of intercollegiate athletics (Fink, Pastore, & Riemer, 2001). Moreover, the basic premise of research studying diversity among group members is that demographic diversity has a negative impact on group functioning and on an individual's work-related behaviors (Wesloski & Mossholder, 1997). Currently, though, a paucity of research exists regarding the outcomes of diverse working environments, especially in sport organizations. The purpose of this study, then, was to examine the relationship between male and female head coaches and their supervisors, with regard to the supervisor's gender. The dyad was appraised via two constructs: supervisor support and satisfaction. The conceptual framework was grounded in social identity theory and derived from literature exploring gender and supervisor support and satisfaction (Field & Caldwell, 1979; Jablin, 1980). It was hypothesized that both men and women head coaches would garner a higher magnitude of support and supervisor satisfaction while working under a supervisor of the same gender. Further, we tested the possible moderating effects of context by assessing interactions by NCAA division. Data were collected through a larger study assessing employment quality in coaching. A total of 343 coaches responded to the questionnaire. A MANCOVA was used to assess the effects of dyad gender and NCAA division on the two outcomes, controlling for the length of time the dyad had worked together in years. Results indicated a significant three-way multivariate interaction (Wilks' Lamda F [658] = 2.59, p < .05). Univariate results for this interaction indicated a main effect for supervisor satisfaction (F [330] = 4.65, p < .01) but not for supervisor support (F [330] = 1.70, p > .05). Analysis of the estimated marginal means for supervisor satisfaction revealed a disordinal interaction in support of the hypothesized effects for Division I coaches, indicating female head coach-supervisor dyads incurred much higher satisfaction than females with male supervisors. Interactions for coaches at the other two Divisions were less prevalent for male coaches than for the female coaches. Thus, the findings support the study hypotheses for the satisfaction outcome, but not the support outcome; while contributing to the ongoing relational demography research in sport. Pragmatically, the results show a potential negative outcome of gender diverse dyads in college coaching, one that could be better managed by college administrators to ensure similar treatment and success among coaches regardless of disparate demography.
Keyword(s): athletics/sports, coaching, gender issues

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