Introduction/Statement of the Issue

Introduction/ Statement of the Issue
With collegiate sports competition at an all time high, it is time that we start to realize that women are on the rise when it comes to coaching professional Division 1 sports. This is a phenomenal achievement in what seems to be a male dominated industry. In one of the class readings, The Social Construction of Women, it explains some of the challenges that women face in order to conform to society norms; what a woman is supposed to be, how she is supposed to act, and the different tasks that she will be able to handle in her lifetime. It states that “men are usually the more aggressive type” and when most people think of coaches, it is almost impossible to think that they don’t envision a person of strength, or a face of intensity when it comes to competition. After speaking with females on collegiate sports teams here at the University of Georgia, we have found that most prefer a male coach; however, is it because they have never had a female coach? In an article called “Drop Sexist Female Views of Coaches” the sports columnist, Christine Brennan says “because men still are doing so much of the athletic hiring, they often end up picking one of their own.” This quote proves that is it hard for women to advance in the field, because they are not being given the same opportunities as men.
There are many different challenges that female coaches face; this is a feminist issue because they have to select their teams, and place them in positions where they will be most efficient and beneficial to the whole team. Why is it that people feel that a woman can’t accomplish the task of placing their athletes correctly? In “Female Coaches and Job Stress: A Review of the Literature,” it states that “the number of females playing sports has increased to over 1.8 million in the years of 1987-1988.” It would seem that with the jump in numbers that there would be more female coaches, but this has not been the case. Though we see many men that coach female teams, there aren’t many women that coach male teams. In direct correlation to the challenge of being a woman, some collegiate coaches also encounter racial stigmas inhibiting their progress towards becoming a head coach. Though it is not evident on this campus or in the coaches we examined, many top conferences such as the South Eastern Conference, Big East, and Atlantic Conference, only a few of them have hired head and assistant minority coaches. So, with the stats, what is the University of Georgia doing to get and keep more female head coaches?