Through The Eyes of Former NCAA Division II Female Student-Athletes: Gender Preferences In College Head Coaches

Despite the implementation of Title IX in the 1970s, females have continued to be underrepresented in leadership positions at all levels of intercollegiate athletics. The proportion of females serving as head coaches for women's sports teams has been especially low. This topic is often studied through the lens of hiring practices and issues affecting the growth and advancement of female coaches. This dissertation in practice study took a different approach and generated new knowledge on the topic by studying the leadership of women's athletic teams from the perspective of the female studentathletes. To do so, the research focused on the lived experiences of former female student-athletes who competed at the NCAA Division II level. Limited research has used the student-athlete perspective to explore this issue, and very little existing research has focused exclusively on this population in intercollegiate athletics. Qualitative research was used to examine NCAA Division II female student-athletes preferred gender in a head coach and to identify critical experiences influencing their preference. The results revealed a sharp contradiction in the participants' overall preference to be coached by men despite placing higher value on leadership characteristics they attributed to female coaches. Additionally, the research provides avenues for additional study on the influence of youth coaches on head-coach gender preferences, different standards for male and female coaches, and cultural sexism in intercollegiate athletics.|Keywords: Coach, Intercollegiate Athletics, Leadership, Title IX, NCAA Division II, Women's Sports.

Grantor dc:publisher

Creighton University

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Looney, Joshua M.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Suby-Long, Sallie

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is retained by the Author. A non-exclusive distribution right is granted to Creighton University and to ProQuest following the publishing model selected above.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/122805

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:cdr.creighton.edu:10504/122805