Cultural Diversity on Campus: a Look At Intercollegiate Football Coaches

Abstract

Those who attempt to increase cultural diversity in social organizations need to consider perceptions of access or opportunity for prestigious and visible positions. This research investigated career option viability for the positions of college athletic director and football coach through the examination of social characteristics of persons holding these positions at a sample of NCAA Division I-A institutions. Eighty-eight of the 105 institutions contacted supplied a copy of their 1990 football media guide. From these media guides, data were compiled for athletic directors, head football coaches, and full time assistant football coaches. Results clearly show that blacks were underrepresented at the athletic director, head coach, coordinator, and assistant coach positions. Additional results examining centrality ofposition played and position coached suggest that racial discrimination is institutionalized. Consequently, the pattern is likely to continue in the absence Of meaningful interventions. These data indicate that career opportunity is restricted for blacks by institutionalized discrimination in intercollegiate sport. niversity administrators, like administrators in many other institutions in American society, are attempting to increase the cultural diversity at all levels of the organization. Many university presidents have implemented programs aimed at expanding cultural diversity among faculty and staff. Other programs are initiated in an attempt to improve the cultural diversity among students. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that blacks comprised only six percent of the full time undergraduate students at NCAA Division I institutions (Lederman, 1992). This figure remains about one-half of the proportion of blacks in the total United States population.Among these educational institutions, the area which probably is the most visible and receives the greatest amount of media coverage is intercollegiate athletics.Interestingly, although blacks are underrepresented as undergraduates at these institutions, they comprise nearly a quarter of all scholarships athletes and nearly 43% of the football players (Lederman, 1992). Because of this overrepresentation of blacks as athletes in intercollegiate sport, it may seem reasonable to argue and indeed, many have, that here is a place in higher education where equal opportunity does exist. However, a more critical analysis would argue that this view of intercollegiate sport as a meritocracy based on skill and achievement actually obscures relations of dominance and subordination structured along lines of race (Birrell, 1989).Little is known about the racial composition of intercollegiate athletic departments. Certainly two of the most visible and prestigious university positions are the

“You'll Face Discrimination Wherever You Go”: Student Athletes’ Intentions to Enter the Coaching Profession

“…Based on this theory and the supporting empirical evidence, we expect that racial minorities, relative to Whites, might expect more barriers and fewer supports for becoming a coach. Indeed, past research supports this reasoning, as coaches of color have been shown to face discrimination in the hiring and selection process (Anderson, 1993; and anticipate that racial discrimination will limit their upward mobility (Cunningham et al, 2006). Further, they receive differential returns on their human and social capital investments , meaning that even when supports are present, minorities are not rewarded for them in the same manner as are Whites.…”

“…Several studies have focused on the coaches themselves, with findings suggesting that racial minorities face barriers in obtaining coaching positions (Cunningham & Sagas, 2005). When they do earn those positions, coaches of color are often placed in peripheral roles (Anderson, 1993) or hired to aid in recruiting minority athletes (Brown, 2002). When on the job, coaches receive fewer returns for their social capital investments (Sagas & Cunningham, 2005), have fewer opportunities for advancement (Cunningham, Bruening, & Straub, 2006), and perceive discrimination based on their race (Cunningham et al, 2006).…”

Transitions to the Top

“…This net effect of race suggests that race matters beyond Black and White coaches' differential access to and placement in positions that induce or inhibit mobility in predicting subsequent career attainment. If tracking processes were primarily driving racial inequality in the college football coaching profession, as suggested in prior research (see Anderson, 1993), race should only matter in terms of coaches' access to central positions, both as athletes and coaches. By finding persistent effects of race, these results point to Black and White coaches receiving differential mobility returns from occupying the same coaching positions.…”

“…The risk period for this analysis is the season in which coaches began their first full-time job until (a) they transition to an FBS executive position or (b) they reach the end of the observation period without experiencing the transition-event (i.e., censored). The use of event-history methods offers numerous advantages over cross-sectional methods, such as logistic regression or descriptive crosstabulations, that have been common in prior research examining racial segregation in the coaching profession (e.g., Anderson, 1993;Braddock, Smith, & Dawkins, 2012;Finch et al, 2010). First, they allow for the investigation of coaches' entire career histories to determine if and when they have occupied high-status positions.…”

Is excellence inclusive? The benefits of fostering Black female college athlete's sense of belonging

“…While Staley and Williams represent "success" stories, it is a wonder as to how many other Black female college athletes could transition to work as professionals in intercollegiate athletics if their respective member institutions adopted inclusive excellence practices encompassing a sense of belonging. I make this statement as extant research on the NCAA and its member institutions' racial and gender composition connote the need for a diverse organizational culture, particularly with its hiring practices and representative administrators and coaches (Anderson, 1993;Cunningham & Sagas, 2004;Fink, Pastore, & Reimer, 2001). Based on research and the 2017 college sports report conducted by TIDES, the NCAA remains a transitional organization.…”