old boys club

Watching Ms. Barcomb’s video on the underrepresentation of females in coaching positions, I was intrigued by how Title IX changed the percentage of women of head coaching positions for women’s teams. Prior to Title IX, women held 90% of the head coaching positions for women’s teams. But the enactment of Title IX forced universities to provide equal funding for men’s and women’s sports. While this created many female college athletes, it had an unintended negative impact on female coaches.  More money started going into women’s sports, and universities began to offer significantly higher salaries to coaches for these teams.  As a result, more men were interested in these jobs. And they were hired over women. This is a classic example of unintended consequences of certain policies that yield both positive and negative outcomes. 

I believe one of the biggest reasons for why it is so difficult for female coaches to enter male sports is due to the idea of “old boys club”. By “old boys club”, I mean a traditional establishment with male coaches and athletic directors who hire individuals most similar to them. This practice is called homologous

reproduction— a structure maintained by those in power who only accept individuals with similar characteristics as them. This type of exclusivity is present within many organizations, and it certainly is one factor that deters women from entering these positions. One argument for why women are underrepresented in men’s sports is their lack of experience in competitive men’s sports, but they are not given the same opportunities as the old boy’s club is too exclusive.