Male collegiate student-athletes’ experiences and perceptions of female head coaches

ABSTRACT

Eleven current and former male college student-athletes were interviewed about their experiences with female head coaches. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) Give Her a Chance, (b) A Coach is a Coach, and (c) Gendering of the Female Coach. The mixed-gender environment of the sports in which these athletes participated (e.g. track and field, swimming, and rifle) may offset any biases typically characteristic in the male-dominated environment of collegiate athletics as minimal explicit sexism emerged. Male student-athletes who had previous experience with women in leadership or authoritarian positions may also be more open-minded to women as head coaches. The results also demonstrate male student-athletes are accepting of women in leadership positions despite the many stereotypes women face. Therefore, athletic administrators should target female head coaches of co-ed sports teams as a way to assist in improving the under-representation of women in collegiate coaching.

KEYWORDS:

• Collegiate athletics
• collegiate coaching
• gender

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Jessica L. Siegele is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She swam collegiately at the University of Kentucky earning All-America honors. She has coached swimming in all three divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Dr Allison B. Smith is an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences at the University of New Mexico. She was a softball pitcher for Wingate University being named to the South Atlantic League (SAL) All-Conference team following her senior season and was the SAC Scholar-Athlete Award winner for softball as well.

Dr Robin Hardin is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, & Sport Studies at the University of Tennessee. His research interests are within the areas of the governance of collegiate athletics and the holistic care of student-athletes.

ORCID

Robin Hardin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6638-2246