Report Gives a C-Minus Grade to Diversity in Women’s College Sports

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida recently released its annual report on gender equality in college athletics. The scorecard gave a grade of C-minus to college’s sport programs, down from a grade of B in 2012.

One of the most striking figures is that in 2014, women held the head coaching job for only 38.2 percent of all women’s athletic teams in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Women did not even hold a majority of assistant coaching positions on women’s teams in Division I.

Here are some other statistics on the status of women in college sports:

• Women are 43 percent of all students athletes at NCAA institutions.
• Less than 10 percent of all athletics directors at NCAA Division I institutions are women.
• Less than a third of all associate athletics directors and assistant athletics directors at NCAA Division I institutions are women.
• Women were 13 percent of the sports information directors at NCAA Division I institutions.

Richard Lapchick, director of TIDES and the lead author of the report, stated that “the greatest number of career prospects are in college sports rather than professional sports because of the number of jobs available. That makes it even more important for us to create expanded opportunities in college sports for women.”