Brandeis University Bucks the National Trend of a Decline in Women Coaches

Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, recently released a detailed report on gender equity in the university’s athletics programs. The report includes information about participation in athletics programs, coaches’ genders and salaries, recruiting expenses and overall expenses and revenue, all broken down by men’s and women’s teams.

The report shows that university-wide the athletics program has 167 men and 166 women participants. Unlike the situation nationwide where men make up a majority of coaches for women’s teams in many sports, at Brandeis, women’s teams are mainly coached by women, with only one of the eight teams led by a male head coach. Also nationwide, there are very few women head coaches for men’s teams in college athletics. However, at Brandeis, men’s teams’ head coaches are evenly split along gender lines, with three teams coached by women and four coached by men.

Head coaches for women’s teams made an average of $59,901 for their coaching duties alone, while men’s team coaches made only an average of $47,114. Brandeis reports that this salary difference is related to the length of time the coaches have been at the university.

Lauren Haynie, director of athletics at Brandeis University, stated that “nationwide, there is a decline of women coaching women. So it’s actually a really positive thing that that’s not the case here.”

Haynie became director of athletics at Brandeis, earlier this year. She previously was an associate director of athletics at Wellesley College. Haynie graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2000 with a degree in kinesiology. She holds a master’s degree in education from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and an MBA, with an emphasis on sports management, from Southern New Hampshire University.