Gender Diversity and Service Quality in NCAA Division I Women's Teams

Abstract

This research aimed to examine the effects of gender diversity of a head coach on the perceived service quality of women student-athletes. Furthermore, the researchers investigated the relationship between the proportion of women on a coaching staff and service quality as perceived by women student-athletes. Data were collected from 192 women student-athletes participating in a variety of collegiate sports from 32 universities in NCAA Division I. Budgets, participation rates of staffs, and the gender composition of each team coaching staff each year were obtained from the 2005 Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) report. Results from multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that the gender of the head coach did not affect the service quality perceived by the women student-athletes. Further, there was no evidence to suggest that the compositional diversity of the top management team leading the group (i.e., coaching staff) impacted the perceived service quality of women student-athletes. These findings contribute to and extend the common ingroup identity literature at the intercollegiate athletics level.