The key leadership positions at Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools and conferences remained overwhelmingly white and male according to a new study released in recent weeks by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida.
The report showed slight increases in the percentage of women and people of color in campus leadership positions. The largest increase in people of color was in the athletics director position, which increased by 1.6 percentage points from 15.2 percent in 2013 to 16.8 percent in 2014, while people of color holding president and faculty athletics representative positions increased by 0.7 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively. FBS head football coach was the most significant position that showed an increase in the percentage of whites.
TIDES released “Small Progress throughout Collegiate Athletic Leadership: Assessing Diversity among Campus and Conference Leaders for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Schools in the 2014-15 Academic Year.” The study examined the race and gender of conference commissioners and campus leaders, including college and university presidents, athletics directors and faculty athletics representatives for all 126 FBS institutions. The study also included head football coaches, assistant coaches and student-athletes for the football teams. This was the first year that assistant coaches included the following positions: director of football operations, director of recruiting and or player personnel, and director/head of strength and conditioning. Finally, the faculty as a whole was examined.
Richard Lapchick, director of TIDES and principal author of the report, said, “The fact is that 88.1 percent of our presidents are white, 83.2 percent of our athletics directors are white, and 100 percent of our conference commissioners are white. In those positions, 74.6, 77.6, and 100 percent are white men, respectively. Overall, whites held 336 (88.2 percent) of the 381 campus leadership positions reported in this study, which was a decrease from 89.3 percent in 2013. These disproportionately white percentages do not reflect who is playing on college sport teams or the America that we know.
“Perhaps the most troubling of all is that it was the second year in a row in which head football coaches of color decreased after several years of progress as head football coaches of color in the 2014 report decreased from 15 to 14.”
Lapchick added, “College sport remains behind professional sports regarding opportunities for women and people of color for the top jobs.”
In the fall of 2014, 74.6 percent of the presidents were white men, as were 77.6 percent of the athletics director positions at FBS schools, while 93.1 percent of faculty athletics representatives were white and 33.1 percent were women.
The report highlights follow:
Overall, whites held 88.2 percent of the 381 campus leadership positions.
White men held 74.6 percent of the 126 president positions. Bernadette Gray-Little at the University of Kansas and Renu Khator at the University of Houston are the only female African-American and Asian presidents, respectively, at FBS schools.
There were five Asian men, six African-American men and two Latino men who are presidents in the FBS.
White men held 77.6 percent of the 125 athletics director positions at FBS schools. White women held 5.6 percent of the AD positions. The number of athletics directors of color totaled 21 (16.8 percent). There continued to be no female African-American, Asian, Latina or Native American athletics directors at FBS schools.
93.1 percent of faculty athletics representatives were white and 33.1 percent were women. There were only four women of color who are FARs. In Fall 2011, 79 percent of the full-time faculty were white (44 percent were white males and 35 percent were white females), 6 percent were African-American, 4 percent were Latino, 9 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander, and less than 1 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native or two or more races. Among full-time professors, 84 percent were white (60 percent were white males and 25 percent were white females), 4 percent were African-American, 3 percent were Latino, 8 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander, and less than 1 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native. According to the 2011 data compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47 percent were women.
All 11 FBS conference commissioners remained white men.
Head coaches of color decreased by one to 14 from 15 in last year’s study. African-American head coaches decreased by one to 11 (8.7 percent). Latino head coaches remained the same at one (0.8 percent) from 2013. There were still two Asian/Pacific Islander head coaches
The percentage of African-American football student-athletes was 52.9 percent for the 2014 season, a 1.5 percentage point decrease from 2013. The percentage of whites was 42.0 percent, which was a 0.2 percentage point increase from 2013.
April Goss, the kicker for Kent State University, was the only female student-athlete on an FBS football team.
