College Athletic Powerhouses Receive a Grade of F in Gender Equity in Leadership Posts

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida recently released its annual report on equity in leadership at the 130 colleges and universities that make up the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division 1 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. These educational institutions are generally the powerhouses of college athletics.

The report gave an overall grade of F to these 130 colleges and universities in their efforts to achieve gender equity in leadership positions.

In the Fall of 2020, there were 23 women who served as president or chancellor of these 130 educational institutions. They made up less than 18 percent of all presidents and chancellors at these schools with major athletic departments.

The data show that there are only 12 women among the 130 athletic directors at these colleges and universities. Thus women are only 9.2 percent of all directors of athletics. Three new women were hired as athletics director since the previous report in 2019: Candice Storey Lee at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Amy Folan at Central Michigan University, and Julie Cromer at Ohio University.

Some good news is that the percentage of women as faculty athletic representatives increased by 4.6 percentage points to 40.3 percent, marking an all-time high and a notable 10.0 percentage point increase since 2016.

Richard Lapchick, director of TIDES and principal author of the report, observed that “The lack of representation of women in athletic director or president or chancellor positions has remained an issue within the arena of college sport.”

The full report, The 2020 Racial and Gender Report Card: D1 FBS Leadership, may be downloaded by clicking here.