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 131 colleges and universities that make up the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division I 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 131 colleges and universities in their efforts to achieve gender equity in leadership positions.

In the Fall of 2022, there were 30 women who served as president or chancellor of these 131 educational institutions. They made up 23 percent of all presidents and chancellors at these schools with major athletic departments.

The data show that there are only 10 women among the 131 athletic directors at these colleges and universities. Thus women were only 7.7 percent of all directors of athletics. The number of women serving as athletic directors at these schools dropped from the previous survey.

Some good news is that the percentage of women as faculty athletic representatives increased to 42 percent, a 2.1 percentage point increase from the previous report.

Judy MacLeod was named Conference USA commissioner in October 2015. She remains the only women serving as a conference commissioner in Football Bowl Subdivision of Division 1 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Richard Lapchick, director of TIDES and principal author of the report, observed that “the underrepresentation of women as president or chancellor, or as athletic director, is a continuing blemish on the record of college sport.”

The full report, The 2022 D1 FBS Leadership Racial and Gender Report Card, may be downloaded here.