{"id":69278,"date":"2016-08-17T09:14:13","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T14:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=69278"},"modified":"2016-08-17T12:23:27","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T17:23:27","slug":"the-glass-wall-gender-and-coaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2016\/08\/17\/the-glass-wall-gender-and-coaching\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Glass Wall”: Gender, Inequality, and Coaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted at Scatterplot<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Olympic fever has hit! As we all marvel at the power, precision, and grace of the athletes, a more disturbing commentary has also emerged, one that diminishes women athletes\u2019 accomplishments, defines them by the men around them, places them in tired tropes of sex objects, or infantilizes them as \u201cgirls.\u201d Some journalists, in combination with a robust social media discussion, are calling this bad<\/a> behavior<\/a> out.\u00a0But should we be so surprised?<\/span><\/p>\n

According to past research, no. In our work<\/a>, we see this as a more pervasive issue, and women\u2019s collegiate coaching is a prime example.\u00a0When Title IX was enacted in 1972 approximately 90% of women\u2019s teams were coached by women; in 2014 that number dropped to 43%. Women comprise only 23% of head coaching positions<\/a>. Why are women coaches \u2013 especially of women\u2019s teams \u2013 being left out? We talked to 9 female and 12 male\u00a0coaches of women\u2019s and men\u2019s teams and many of their own explanations suggest a view of fundamental and \u201cnatural\u201d differences between men and women.<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n