Gender and Racial Hiring Practices Still Far to Go in College Sports

The University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) produces a national report card that is “the definitive assessment of hiring practices of women and people of color in most of the leading professional and amateur sports and sporting organizations in the United States.” This past week saw the release of the latest report, which details the group’s findings for both the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 scholastic years. For an athletic department audience, the findings should be mandatory reading as an objective analysis of where the industry stands regarding diversity and inclusion is of paramount importance in today’s society.

A Brief Background

TIDES, led by UCF professor Dr. Richard Lapchick and comprised of UCF graduate students, generates gender and racial hiring practice reports for five professional sports leagues, college sports, and leadership at the DI level. The latest report is the 23^rd issue.

Data for the TIDES college report were collected from the NCAA as well as from DI schools themselves. After being compiled, statistics were sent to the NCAA to ensure accuracy. The results then are compared to prior years’ reports for conclusions regarding trends and movements.

The most immediate results from TIDES reports are the group’s assigned letter grades, which follow standard academic grading conventions (A, B, C, etc.). For issues of race, these grades are generated when compared to the overall racial makeup in society. For example, if 24% of society is composed of people of color, a goal of 24% of workplace positions should be held by people of color. The letter-grade designations are thus distributed:

TIDES Letter Designations for Racial Hiring (percentage of positions held by people of color)
A	24%
B	12%
C	9%
D	>6%
F	<6%

As gender statistics in society differ from those of race, the letter designations are different when looking at the grades for issues of gender. They are as follows:

TIDES Letter Designations for Gender Hiring (percentage of positions held by women)
A	40%
B	32%
C	27%
D	>22%
F	<22%

Finally, TIDES imposes slightly more stringent standards on its metrics regarding head and assistant coaches of women’s teams, acknowledging these are higher than those in society as a whole. Whereas the general gender grades are as listed above, when dealing with leadership of women’s teams, TIDES distributes grades based on the following:

TIDES Letter Designations for Gender Hiring of Head/Asst. Coaches of Women’s Teams (percentage of positions held by women)
A	60%
B	52%
C	44%
D	>40%
F	<40%

Report Highlights:

The report findings for both college and professional sports are interesting in their entirety, however, here are a few significant results for the AD community:

– During the 2015 season, 43.6% of all NCAA Division I, II, and III student-athletes combined were female and 56.4% were male.
– Of the total male student-athletes in Divisions I, II, and III in 2014-2015 combined, white males represented 65.8%, African-American males represented 17%, Latinos represented 5.4%, Asian/Pacific Islanders represented 1.8%, and Native Americans represented 0.4%. Student-athletes that identified as two or more races, “other,” and non-resident aliens represented 9.7%.
– Of the total female student-athletes in Divisions I, II, and III in 2014-2015 combined, white females represented 73.2%, African-American females represented 9.1%, Latinas represented 4.9%, Asians/Pacific Island females represented 2.4%, and Native American females represented 0.4%. Female student-athletes identified as two or more races, “other,” and nonresident aliens represented ten percent.
– Women held 38.9% of the head coaching jobs for women’s sports in DI, 35.4% in DII, and 43.8% in DIII.
– For athletic director positions during the 2014-2015 year, whites held 87.5%, 91.2%, and 94.3% in DI, DII, and DIII, respectively. These numbers are down slightly from the previous year.
– The percentage of female athletics directors at the Division I level decreased from 9.6% in 2013-2014 to 8.9% in 2014-2015.

Overall Conclusions:

– College sport’s 2015 combined grade for racial and gender hiring practices was a B with 81.2 points, up from an overall B with 81.1 points in 2014.
– College sport received a B for racial hiring practices by earning 83.6 points, down slightly from 83.8 points in the 2014 report.
– College sport received a C+ for gender hiring practices by earning 78.8 points, up from 78.3 points in the 2014 report.
– The head coach position for all men’s teams, head coach position for all women’s teams, head coach position for all men’s basketball, assistant coach position for all men’s teams, sports information directors, and athletics director positions all received an F for gender hiring practices.

Based on the TIDES report numbers, it is easy to be pessimistic about the state of diversity in college sports leadership. After all, college sports had the lowest grade for racial hiring and second-lowest for gender hiring practices among all sports groups or organizations reviewed by TIDES. However, it is important to also consider the mere existence of TIDES, along with the NCAA’s Diversity Initiatives (which received an A in this year’s report) and other measures, helps ensure that while college sports’ numbers aren’t where they should be, some systems are in place to help push towards progress.