Many colleges are not hiring as many female coaches to lead their women's sports teams, according to a recent report published this week by the University of Minnesota's Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport.
In a study that spanned the 2012-13 academic year and the current school year, the Tucker Center joined with the Alliance of Women Coaches and examined women's teams from 76 schools in the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. The results of the study, which were reported by USA Today earlier this week, showed that 40.2 percent of head coaches of women's teams were women (356 women out of 886 teams). In this current school year, the percentage sits at 39.6 percent.
"As women's team coaching positions become more visible and powerful, from graduate assistant to head coaches, women less frequently occupy those positions of authority," Nicole M. LaVoi, associate director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, told USA Today. "Most college men are coached by men, but less than half of college women in the biggest and most visible programs are coached by a female head coach. Therefore, women are not often visible role models in schools that are most often in the public eye."
According to the report, Cincinnati received the best grade, with 80 percent of its women's teams being coached by women. Oklahoma State came in last at 12.5 percent.