Gendered Racial Stereotypes and Coaching Intercollegiate Athletic Teams: The Representation of Black and Asian Women Coaches on U.S. Women’s and Men’s Teams

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the representation of Black and Asian women coaches on women’s and men’s intercollegiate athletic teams. Through the theoretical lens of gendered racial stereotypes associating Black individuals with masculinity and Asian individuals with femininity, the authors hypothesized that, among women coaches, Black women coaches would be better represented on men’s teams and Asian women coaches better represented on women’s teams. The authors collected archival data from the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s (NCAA) Demographics Database, including data on the racial and gender demographics of all coaches across each season available (2007/2008 through 2016/2017). The final dataset included aggregated data from 11 seasons and all sports across three divisions (n = 2540 teams, 625,119 coaches). The results of two-way analyses of covariance showed that Black women coaches (n = 17,983) were better represented within men’s teams and were more likely to be employed as head coaches than as assistant coaches on these teams. The results did not provide evidence of the Asian-femininity linkage for the 1778 Asian women coaches we identified. Among White coaches, women (n = 134,696) were more likely to serve on women’s teams than on men’s. The findings reveal that gender and race intersect to shape opportunities for women coaches, suggesting that efforts are required to minimize the potential influence of gendered racial stereotypes in intercollegiate athletics.