The Limits of Title IX: Women as Coaches

When watching Ms. Barcomb’s lecture I kept thinking of Mr. Robertson (Dad)’s presentation on language and gender. Women are passed over and discriminated against in so many fields and sports particularly exemplify that. Men are seen as more assertive, more confident, and more competitive than women, making them stronger coaches. The way Ms. Barcomb discussed the double standard when describing coaches (men are passionate; women are emotional) reminded me of the gender bias in how we evaluate men’s versus women’s actions. There is also a stereotype that men are more inherently interested in sports than women, and this serves as an excuse as to why there are so few women NCAA coaches. I think socially there is also an idea that men can lead women but women can’t lead men. There are male and female coaches of female NCAA teams, but the number of women head coaches of NCAA men’s teams. Aside from fears that women candidates are less qualified, there is also concern that a woman head coach wouldn’t be respected by her players. To me this seems the same as any argument against a female president or leader. By raising the concern that a woman will not be respected by the men beneath her, we set her up to fail. We invalidate women’s leadership when we question what others will think of them, instead of simply looking at their qualifications and competence. I also agreed with Ms. Barcomb’s point about the need to seek out female coaches. In a field that has been so discriminatory towards women, it is not enough for ADs to treat men and women equally when they apply for jobs—they must actively work to correct the harm that discriminatory hiring practices have caused.

I also find it somewhat ironic that following the enactment of Title IX the percentage of women head coaches of women’s teams has decreased—as coaching a women’s team has become more profitable and more prestigious than it once was, men now seek out these coaching positions more. In a sport like football, the most popular in America and one that is by nature less open to women, coaching opportunities for females are even rarer. I read an article about women in football coaching that said that there is only one full-time female coach of a D1 football team. Something that we see throughout sports but particularly in this is the network of men that uphold each other. Callie Brownson, who is currently the only full-time female D1 coach, is quoted in the article as saying “The feeder program in a college is strictly male because of the experience. It’s like a fraternity, almost.” When male coaches hire their male friends or former players, they are intentionally or unintentionally shutting women out of the profession. Only through concerted effort will we be able to move towards equity in coaching at all levels of play.