Warren A. Whisenant

Success and gender: Determining the rate of advancement for intercollegiate athletic directors

Since the demise of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), female sport administrators have continued their struggle to reestablish their place as athletic directors. The purpose of this study was to assess the rate of advancement (success ratio) of intercollegiate athletic directors, with a primary focus on gender. Athletic directors from 157 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) member institutions participated in the study. The preliminary results confirmed the expected findings that hegemonic masculinity was entrenched within intercollegiate athletics. The success ratio of male athletic directors differed from that of female athletic directors, and the difference was significant (p ≤ .05). The success ratio for men was higher than the ratio for women. Further analyses, however, showed that female athletic directors had higher success ratios than their male peers at lower level institutions. Although parity in numbers has not yet been achieved across the NCAA, the glass ceiling at Division I institutions may begin to crack as more women achieve success at the lower level institutions.

An Investigation of Job Satisfaction and Female Sports Journalists

The purpose of this study was to provide a theoretical foundation to enhance and enrich the understanding of female sport journalists and their level of job satisfaction. In this research we sought to determine satisfaction with six distinct areas of employment by using two of the most often used survey instruments (Job Descriptive Index and Job In General) that measure job satisfaction. A total of 78 surveys were completed by members of the Association for Women in Sports Media who were identified as full-time employees of daily newspapers. Although the journalists indicated overall satisfaction with their employment, pay, supervision, coworkers, and type of work, they were dissatisfied with their promotional opportunities. Significant differences were also found by making demographic comparisons.

How Women Have Fared as Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Since the Passage of Title IX

The purpose of this study was to assess how well women have fared under Title IX at the interscholastic level, not as participants or coaches, but beyond the playing field into the offices of the athletic director. Demographic data were collected pertaining to the gender of members who belong to state high school athletic director associations identified by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA). An analysis of the gender composition of those state organizations showed that significantly (p < .05) fewer women (13%) than men (87%) held interscholastic athletic administrator positions. Additional analyses showed that there were state as well as regional differences in the percentage of women serving as interscholastic athletic directors. The findings demonstrate that although women have made extensive gains on the playing field as participants, they have been denied access to the positions of power within interscholastic athletics. Remedies and the potential effects of this segregation on girls and women, beyond the playing field, are also discussed.

Organizational justice and commitment in interscholastic sports

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of three organizational justice dimensions on the commitment of high school student athletes (N = 480) to continue playing a referent sport. The athletes were asked to complete an instrument designed to assess their perceived levels of justice displayed by their coaches in three justice dimensions—procedural justice, distributive justice and interpersonal justice. The findings indicated that justice perceptions did significantly (p < 0.05) influence their intent to continue playing a specific sport. Further analyses found fairness perceptions differed significantly (p < 0.05) when considering the students’ grade level, gender and referent sport, while no differences existed based upon the race of the student athletes. These findings provide insight into organizational justice in sport.

Sport information directors and homologous reproduction.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of homologous reproduction (Kanter, 1993) on the number of women serving as Sports Information Directors (SIDs) in intercollegiate athletics. Previous research has demonstrated that the dominant group (men) in power in sports systematically reproduces itself by hiring more men than women for coaching and administrative positions (Lovett and Lowry, 1994; Stangl and Kane, 1991). The result is the entrenchment of male hegemony (Schell and Rodriquez, 2000) in sport. This study analysed the administrative structure within NCAA athletic departments (n = 369) to determine if the sex of the Athletic Director (AD) influenced the sex of the Sports Information Director (SID). The findings suggested that ADs did engage in homologous activity.

Using biometrics for sport venue management in a post 9‐11 era

The purpose of this paper is to assess technologies, both currently available and under development, which may be used to assist sport facility and other venue operators in preempting a terrorist act or some other form of organized act of violence. The attack on the World Trade Center on September 11 highlighted the vulnerability of large facilities to attack by committed terrorists. Facility managers and venue operators must face the challenge of protecting physical assets as well as participants and spectators. This technology forecast focuses on technologies associated with biometrics. The proposition presented has been based, in part, on information provided from interviews with industry experts from a variety of professions, including facility management, biometric technologies, event security and anti‐terrorism from both the private and government sectors. A review of published and unpublished materials associated with biometrics is also presented as part of the technology forecast.

Analyzing Ethics in the Administration of Interscholastic Sports: Three Key Gender-Related Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Educational Leaders.

Athletic administrators and decision makers within interscholastic athletics are expected to embrace a code of ethics that serves as a set of rules to guide their professional behavior. Included within this code are areas of controversy that present gender-related ethical dilemmas for administrators. Three specific ethical dilemmas involve (1) providing equitable participation opportunities for students, (2) instituting ethical hiring practices for coaches, athletic administrators and educational leaders and (3) creating an environment and organizational culture that embraces fairness. This article examines these three critical dilemmas.