Women Coaches in High
School Sport
Anonymous
Sport Administration
July 27th, 2004
Background


Prior to Title IX, women coaches were paid
zero dollars for their efforts as junior high,
high school, and college coaches.
Before 1972, women’s sports were governed
under separate athletic departments and
women held 90% of coaching and athletic
director positions in women’s sports.
Background

Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendment
prohibits discrimination on the basis of
gender in the provision of educational
programs and activities in all secondary and
postsecondary educational institutions that
receive federal funds.
–
–
–
Participation opportunities
Scholarship dollars
Athletic program benefits
Background

College Athletes
–
42% of all college athletes are female


Study body ratio is 46/54
College Coaches
–
–
44.1% of the coaches of women’s teams are
female
Women hold 57.2% of the paid assistant coaching
jobs within NCAA athletics
Background

High School
–
–
–
No data on women coaches! However,
In 1971, 1 of 27 girls participated
Now, 1 of 2 girls participate in no less than one
sport in high school


Making up 42% of all high school athletic participation
Title IX Complaints are now emerging at the high school
level for noncompliance
Question

There has been a decline in the number of
women coaches at the collegiate level in all
divisions but an increase in opportunity for
female participation. Is there an under
representation of women coaches at the high
school level?
Rationale


Title IX was enacted 32 years ago, thus producing
plenty of qualified women to coach and administer
There is an increase in opportunity for girls
–

Teams and scholarships
1 of 2 girls participate at the high school level,
however their participation goes without strong
female leadership and role modeling
Hypotheses



Head Coaches of boy’s athletics are more
likely to be male
Head Coaches of combined sports, i.e. cross
country, track, tennis, are more likely to be
male
Head Coaches of girl’s athletics are more
likely to be male
Methods

Survey based research
–
–
Survey population: Athletic Director’s of all New
Mexico High Schools
Survey will be sent directly to state high schools,
c/o athletic director.

NMAA will provide all information necessary for schools
and administrators
Example Survey
Survey Request
SPORT
Football
Girls BB
Boys BB
Girls Soc.
Boys Soc.
MALE
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
FEMALE
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
Methods
FTBALL GIRLS BOYS
B-BALL B-BALL
MALE
FEMALE
Variables

Dependant Variables
–

% coach data for each gender
Independent Variables
–
–
Gender of Coach
Sport

Broken down into individual sports, both girls and boys
Statistics

Chi Square X²
–
Sample Size

One Athletic Director per school
–
–
155 public and private high schools in New Mexico
Total Subjects: 155 AD’s
Chi Square Table

Percent Coach Data For Each Gender
Response
Male
%
(n=?)
Female
%
(n=?)
Total
100%
Power

Power is not relevant to my Survey based
research, yea!
Limitations




Lack of survey’s returned
Not all school’s can financially fund all 17
sports
Lack of AD interest and desire to participate
Lack of women applying for coaching
positions in New Mexico
Findings


I anticipate to find an overwhelming majority
of high school coaching positions occupied
by males despite the high female
participation rates
In addition, I expect to find a majority of
women’s teams coached my males
References




Lopiano, Donna. Equity in Women’s Sports- A Health and Fairness
Perspective. www.womenssportsfoundations.org
www.ncaa.org
Title IX at 30: Report Card on Gender Equity. www.ncwge.org
www.nfhs.org
Thank You!
Questions?