Female Head Coaches of Men's Collegiate Teams: a Critical Feminist Analysis
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2005 Female Head Coaches of Men's Collegiate Teams: A Critical Feminist Analysis Colin Fisher Young University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Young, Colin Fisher, "Female Head Coaches of Men's Collegiate Teams: A Critical Feminist Analysis. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2005. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/4352 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Colin Fisher Young entitled "Female Head Coaches of Men's Collegiate Teams: A Critical Feminist Analysis." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Education. Joy T. DeSensi, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Leslee A. Fisher, Dr. Hastings, Dr. Hatch Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I amsubmitting herewith a dissertation written by Colin Fisher Young entitled "Female Head Coaches of Men's Collegiate Teams: A Critical Feminist Analysis." I have examined the final paper copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Education. We have read this dissertation t ��� � Accepted forthe Council: Graduate Studies FEMALE HEAD COACHES OF MEN'S COLLEGIATE TEAMS: A CRITICAL FEMINIST ANALYSIS A Dissertation Presented forthe Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Colin Fisher Young August 2005 lll DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the inspirational coaches of this study. \ V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thankthose who contributed to the completion of my Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education. Primarily, I would like to thankmy major advisor, Dr. DeSensi, for her guidance andsupport. Also, I would like to thankmy dissertation committee members: Dr. Fisher forher suggestions andencouragement, Dr. Hatch for his expertise, and Dr. Hastings for his insight. Lastly, I would like to thankmy family and friends for adding meaningto my graduate experience. Vil ABSTRACT Women hold less than2% of NCAA men's head coaching positions (Acosta & Carpenter,2004). Although there is extensive researchthat explores the experience and lack of femalehead coaches of women's teams, little researchinvestigates the experience andlack of female head coaches of men's teams, particularly at the collegiate level. Therefore, the purposeof this study was to examine the experience of femalehead coaches of men's collegiate teams. Issues these coached facedbecause of their gender, the impact they had on their male athletes, andtheir male athletes' impact on them were investigated. A critical feministontology and epistemology was used to analyzein-depth interviews with ten femalehead coaches of men's NCAA Division I andDivision III swimming, track and field, cross country, tennis, and golf programs. The fourmajor themes of this study included: positives, difficultiesand issues, athlete gender differences, andconsciousness raising andempowerment. The major themes, their respective subthemes, andsupporting participant quotes aredescribed and discussed along with ties to relevantresearch. Also, based on the findings, conclusions, recommendations to improve the work situation of femalehead coaches of men's collegiate teams and increase the numberof women coachingmen, and suggestions for futureresearch are provided. lX TABLEOF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I INTRODUCTION............................................................................. 1 Purposeof the Study.................................................................. 4 Significanceof the Study .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .......... 5 Operational Definitions. 5 Scope of the Study.................................................... 6 II REVIEWOF LITERATURE............................................................. 9 Introduction............................................................. 9 Feminism............................................................... 9 Feminist Theories...................................................................... 10 Critical Feminist Epistemology................................................. 21 Coach-Athlete Relationship........................................................ 27 Lack of Female Coaches of Women's Teams........................... 60 Female Coaches of Men's Teams..................................... 70 Summary........................ ........................................ 79 III METHODOLOGY.............................................................................. 81 Introduction............................................................ 81 Qualitative Research Methods................................................... 81 Research Tradition.................................................... 84 Methods.................................................................................... 87 Methodological Issues.................................................... 104 Summary............................................................... 107 IV RESULTS........................................................................................... 109 Introduction. .. 109 Theme One: Positives............................................................... 109 Theme Two: Difficulties and Issues....................................... 123 Theme Three: Athlete Gender Differences............................... 131 Theme Four: Consciousness Raising andEmpowerment ........ 13 7 Summary............................................................... 148 V DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS.. 149 Introduction............................................................ 149 Positives ................................_,.. .......................................... 149 Difficulties andIssues. ..................................................... 152 Athlete Gender Differences.............................................. 156 Consciousness Raising and Empowerment.. .. 160 Conclusions........................................................... 162 X CHAPTER PAGE Recommendations to Improve Female Head Coaches of Men's Collegiate Teams Work Situation and to Increase the Number of Female Coaches of Men's Teams. .............. 163 Suggestions forFuture Research.................................. 164 REFERENCES............................................................................... 167 APPENDICES................................................................................ 185 Appendix A: Letterof Informationand Informed Consent. 187 Appendix B: Interview Guide............................................. 188 Appendix C: Confidentiality Form.................................. 193 VITA............................................................................................... 195 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Coaching men's collegiate athletics is one of the most sex-segregated occupations in our society. According to the Acosta and Carpenter (2004), women hold less than2% of NCAA men's head coaching positions. This percentage is lower thanthe number of women occupying positions in traditionally male-dominated occupations such as criminal investigators (23.8%), chemical engineers (14.7%), welders (6.8%), firefighters (3.5%), andconstruction laborers (3%) (US Departmentof Labor, 2004). Yet women comprise about 54.5% of the undergraduate and 43% of varsity student-athlete populations at NCAA colleges and universities (NCAA, 2004 ). Specifically, from the 2001-2002 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Gender-Equity Report, which had an86% response rate fromits 1,034 member institutions in Division I, II andIII, there were two reported full-time and 54 part-time women head coaches of men's teamsin Division I. In Division II, there were no reported full-timeand 51 part-timewomen head coaches of men's teams. In Division III, there were three reported full-time and121 part-time women head coaches of men's team (NCAA, 2004 ). Therefore, women coaches are over twice as likely to coach men at the non-scholarshipDivision III level than at the scholarship Division I or II level, and are almost always part-time head coaches. Also, virtually all female coaches of men's collegiate teamscoach women as well in combined gender, non-revenue, low-profile sports, such as swimming and diving, cross county, track and field, golf, or tennis (Jacobson, 2001). 2 The issue of women coaching men's athletics is particularlysignificant to me because of my history in athletics and graduatestudies in sport sociology and psychology. As an_athlete, I played several organized sports such as football,basketball, soccer, baseball, and continued with cross country and track throughout college.