CliftonStrengths for Physician Wellness and Burnout
presentation
1. Roles of Women
in Athletics
Where did she go?: The lack of female
coaches
2. • Why are there so few women in administrative
roles in athletics (presidents, athletic directors,
head coaches)?
• Should there be more legislation to ensure the
equality of women?
3. Literature Review
• women make up 47 percent of the work force
(registered nurses, elementary/middle school teachers,
medical/health service managers, and psychologists)
• Currently 42.9% of female sports are coached by
females
• Before Title IX 90% female sports were coached by
females
• 215 (20.3%) female Athletic Directors (majority of AD’s
do hiring)
5. Methods
• 500 Survey’s to Coaches and Athletic Directors
• Electronically using Qualtircs via e-mail
• Consisting of 37 questions (coach) and 31 (AD’s)
• Attempted to do phone interviews
6. Question Examples
• Are you a Kentucky Resident?
Yes No
• Briefly Explain what you enjoy about living in Kentucky?
• How does grass seeds help with grow Bluegrass?
Negative effect No effect Positive effect
27. Comments
• “Some of the players have requested male coaches.”
• “Usually do not get a lot of applications/resumes for our positions.”
• “Finding one that has experience”
• “qualifications and experience, applicant pool is small compared to
males”
• “Challenges to the believed strength of females to deal with such a role.
The belief that people have that women make judgments based on
emotion and not rationalization.”
28. Reason not being hired
(59 responses) Reasons women are not being hired:
1. Female interest 10
2. Experience 8
3. Family 7
4. None/”boys club” mentality/Confidence (each 5)
5. Male AD’s 4
6. Emotions/request of male (each 3)
7. Stereotypes/time (each 2)
8. Male ignorance/society/money/competitive/female success (each 1)
29. Comments
• “Sports are a "boys club" mentality and people are slow to change.”
• “Aspirations of having family; potential of having athletic directors who are 'old
school' in thinking women won't make best coaches (something I have seen first
hand).”
• “1st- Are women going after the jobs? 2nd- I don't believe all coaches have as
much confidence in themselves as much as male coaches do.”
• “Not as many qualified or have enough experience”
• “I feel many women do not pursue coaching due to them being fine in the
assistant position. Also as females many will choose having a family above
coaching along with little pay in a male dominated field.”
30. Not Staying in coaching
(72 responses) Reasons for women not staying in coaching:
1. Families 38
2. Time 9
3. Competitive 8
4. Not hired quickly/burn out/Relocation/sexism (each 2)
5. Personal choice/dept. support/lack of respect/Pay/Judgment/
minority/experience/none (each 1)
31. Comments
• “No success with getting jobs quickly.”
• “Not enough support within the department. The time it takes to be a
competitive and great coach takes away from the wife/mother roles.”
• “After they get fired, they are unwilling to apply for other jobs; want to start a
family and don't feel like they can juggle it all, work/life balance, job instability”
• “Coaching is a very demanding field. Raising a family and having a support
system that is willing to help raise children would be difficult as a female
coach. Also, to climb to coaching latter requires moving all over the country. I
believe when I woman has children, especially school age, she is more likely to
quit coaching to stay in an area she likes.”
33. The article by Libby Sander “In The Game, But
Rarely No. 1” suggest that one of the reasons that
there are few women in top positions such as
Head Coaching, Athletic Directors, Presidents, etc.
is due to the lack of mentorship by those who
hold those positions. Do you agree? If not, briefly
explain what you believe contributes to the lack
of females in those positions.
34. Lack of mentorship is a factor in women
being in top positions
21 agree
16 neither nor
6 disagree
35. Comments
• “Women think of other women in similar roles as competition and don't want to
mentor out of fear of job.”
• “This is a good possibility, but I am not so sure as to this is the reason for this to
happen.”
• “My own personal experience, I have been mentored and encouraged to move
forward.”
• “I think its a combinations of less women in the applicant pool (either due to
lack of interest of lack of confidence) and the time required to get to that
position while having a family. There are only 3 women head coaches in our
department and we are all single with no children.”
36. Did you have a mentor?
35 yes
8 no
11 men and 9 women mentored by males
2 men and 13 women mentored by females
39. Comments
• “Legislation is the wrong way to go about it. I believe the mentorship
aspect will help. I also feel the title IX legislation is strong enough.”
• “I think schools should be investigated on a regular basis for all equality
issues. Basic things happen all the time such as male coaches gravitating
towards male recruits. Force school to hire so many women in athletic
staff.”
• “The problem is that they are normally not as qualified as their male
competition and this hampers their success. Women typically do not put
in the years coaching at youth, middle school, academy, club, high school
to build their resume. I believe they should. Just because you were a
college athlete does not mean that you will be a good coach at the college
level.”
40. Number of female athletes and athletics
teams on college campuses
Very Strong Effect 30
No Effect 4
Some Positive effect 8
41. Interest in and significance of women’s
athletics teams on college campuses
Very strong effect 15
No effect 6
Some Positive effect 21
42. Fair allocation of resources between men’s
and women’s teams based on interest and
ability
Very strong effect 13
No effect 4
Some positive effect 23
Some negative effect 2
43. Resources college coaches of women’s teams
have to be successful
Very strong effect 12
No effect 7
Some positive effect 19
Some negative effect 4
44. Number and likelihood of women coaching
at the collegiate level
Very strong effect 8
No effect 9
Some positive effect 20
Some negative effect 5
45. Representation of women in leadership
positions in collegiate athletics
Very strong effect 6
No effect 13
Some positive effect 22
Some negative effect 1
50. Comments
• “very limited candidates applied and or high qualifications specifically
experience.”
• “We have hired SEVERAL female coaches, in addition to adding many
women's sports, at the Div. I university where I am A.D. Any challenges
that may have arisen I have seen as opportunities.”
51. Why women are not being hired
Experience (2)
Existing job security
Double standards
Family
52. Comments
• “It's hard for women to have the experience that many men have already
achieved. Those that do have are usually already ready in very good
coaching situations.”
• “I can't imagine any reason, unless it's lack of experience in some cases.
Otherwise, I see no reason not to hire a female head coach.”
• “Double standard / Family”
53. Why Women Decide not to stay in coaching
Children/Family Obligations (3)
Time
Travel
54. Comments
• “Family obligations”
• “Sometimes, if they have young children and their priorities change, they
decide the travel and other time commitments are not feasible.”
• “In my experience one of the main reasons I have seen women leave
coaching is when they have children. In y experience they want to not
have to spend so much time away from home.”
55. The article by Libby Sander “In The Game, But
Rarely No. 1” suggest that one of the reasons that
there are few women in top positions such as
Head Coaching, Athletic Directors, Presidents, etc.
is due to the lack of mentorship by those who
hold those positions. Do you agree? If not, briefly
explain what you believe contributes to the lack
of females in those positions.
56. Lack of mentorship is a factor in women
being in top positions
Agree 2
Neither nor 1
59. More Legislation
No (3)
Why?
• Better implement what is already there
• Popularity of women’s sports will bring female coaches into spotlight
• Consistency in definition of current law
60. Title IX impact on the following
• Women in sports: Very Strong Positive Effect (3)
• Interest in Women’s Sports: Very Strong Positive Effect (3)
• Allocation of Resources: VSPE (2), Some Positive Effect (1)
• Coaching Resources: VSPE (2), No Effect (1)
• Female Coaches: VSPE (1), Some Positive Effect (2)
• Female Leadership Roles: VSPE (1), SP (1), NE (1)
63. Future Research
• Perception of the opposite gender holding the head coaching position
• How much influence financial resources play in coaching
• The motivation/force/cause behind coaches choosing to coach.
Editor's Notes
Talk about wide focus being president etc. then going to narrow focus
Decided to separate the coaches results from the athletic directors results due to the slow and limited response of AD’s, so a little later on I will go over the athletic directors results.
What sports do currently coach? Sports team giving as females sports
Above 50% (44), At 50% (9), Below 50% (8)
All coaches played the sport that they currently coach either in HS or Collegiate level
13 male
33 female
Two part question lead into second slide
Example opened
Title IX an it’s relation to athletics is really known for the increased opportunity for the under represented gender to equal participate in any educational program or activity that is federally funded/assisted
Yes comment (2nd statement)
No comment (1st statement)
