Gender discrimination against women in collegiate coaching is not a new problem.
This ongoing discrimination has been sustained due to the presence of hegemonic masculinity and fraternal networking. The issue of discrimination in collegiate sports was addressed by the government in 1972 when Title IX was enacted by the United States Congress. Title IX is not directed specifically at the college coaching rank, but it does include it. So, how is discrimination in collegiate coaching allowed to continue? Through fraternal networking and hyper masculinity, I believe that male coaches are limiting coaching opportunities for women by communicating open positions to their male connections rather than female. This is an unintentional way that coaches sustain their hyper masculine coaching environment.
Comparing the data
- In their research, Jolinda Elias and Gerald Masterson randomly selected 18 schools from four sports in the NCAA and had their data retrieved from the NCAA web site. The sports chosen for the research were ones that either a male or female could coach: basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer.
- Out of the 18 schools and 36 athletic teams there were 9 women coaches. Of the 36 teams studied, men coached 75%
- In women's sports alone there were nine men and nine women coaches--a 50/50 split. Note: the 18 men's sports produced no female head coaches
- Hegemonic masculinity is a practice that legitimizes men's dominant position in society and justifies the subordination of the common male population and women, and other marginalized ways of being a man.
- Fraternal networking is a network of communication among males that values hyper masculinity, brotherhood, and loyalty above all else.
- Fraternal networking is a socialized belief, a belief that adapted to the norms of the coaching. One that was taught to coaches by other coaches and fueled by the frat-like culture of male coaching.
Is the fraternal networking unintentional or intentional? How some female coaches see it.
- While fraternal networking leads to less female coaches, female coaches are aware of it and understand it.
- In their article, researchers mention an article from Women's Sports and Fitness says that, "When the male directors looked for people to fill jobs in the women's programs, they turned to their friends, most of whom were male.”
- "It wasn't deliberate. They were just using their natural networking skills."
Great blog and interesting research. I took a class during my undergrad called Sociology of Sport, and it really brought to light some of the inequalities between gender in sports. This research fits in very nicely and is very well done. Have you ever thought about how women's sports are often played before men's sports in high school or how women's sporting events are held on nights where spectators are less likely to attend? I feel that this could very well be where the start of sexism that is observed at the collegiate level.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting topic! I am taking a class right now called Culture and American Politics, and we have spent a great deal of time discussing Title IX. Last week, the Athletic Director at Concordia came and spoke to us, and it was interesting to hear how your research "plays out" on our campus. However, the Title IX director on campus is a woman, and it sounds like she's doing great work to boost gender equality both between male and female teams and the coaching staffs. She said one step they take to hire more female coaches is posting open job listings in places where many female coaches will see the listings.
ReplyDeleteI like the style of your blog. I think it is important that you defined some important terms. I also really appreciated the section about how female coaches view this. It is good to know they are self aware but important to make a change going forward.
ReplyDeleteI think this research topic is very interesting, mostly because many people seem to overlook the fact that male coaches often refer or only network with other males. What are some ways that this problem could be brought to light and potentially decreased in the future? Another area of research that would be interesting to look into would be how male athletes feel about having a woman as a coach rather than a male.
ReplyDeleteYour topic fascinates me, as this is something I have noticed in my own experience. Throughout high school and college I played for both male and female coaches. It made me think about how common it is for men to coach women's teams, and how uncommon it is to see a female coach for a male team. I have always wondered why it seems as though women can't coach men's teams. Your post hits a big point in this. I wonder about the application of this research. What can be done to change this reality in collegiate coaching?
ReplyDeleteThis was such a great read and very clear cut! These new terms I learned have helped put this topic into perspective. I think I always had an idea about this issue but hearing your research on it has truly opened my eyes! Even though its been a minute since I played my last sport, I always remembered the difference between my male and female coaches. It always seemed like my female coaches worked harder to be taken seriously than my male coaches. This post puts it all into perspective now.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting topic! I like how you structured the article and placed pictures and bulletpoints. Just in the second to last bulletpoint I am a little confused about the "in their article" part. Whose article? And in the end the type size changed for a bit but all in all avery good article!
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was interesting how overall in coaching it was 75% male and then in women's sports it was a 50/50 split. You talk about how one of the reasons that there are almost always only male coaches for men's sports, but the women are expected to be comfortable with either a male or female coach.
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