Research

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport released its annual 2023-2024 Women in College Coaching Report Card (WCCRC) logging the 12th year in collaboration with WeCOACH. The data in this report and over the past twelve years of the WCCRC documents longitudinal patterns of percentages of women head coaches within NCAA Division-I athletics.

Four distinct eras have demarcated the status of women sport coaches in intercollegiate athletics in the US:

1. Majority: prior to 1972, while there were fewer women’s teams,>90% of women were coached by women1.

2. Sharp Decline: 1972-1982, after the passage of Title IX, men werehired and after a decade only ~50% of women were coached by women.

3. Gradual Decline: 1983-2010, the percentage of women coaches slowly eroded down to ~40%

4. Stagnation: 2011-2021, the percentage remained remarkably stable, and increased in very small increments year-over-year to ~42%

Key Findings:
The goal of the Women in College Coaching Report Card ™ is to document the percentage of women collegiate head coaches of women’s teams by gender and race over time. Data matters! Based on the numbers this year the new era of STEADY INCLINE for intercollegiate Division-I women sport coaches at the most visible, powerful institutions is firmly in place.

Data in the 12th year of the WCCRC points
to some ‘firsts’ and some good news!

• The percentage of women head coaches of NCAA D-I women’s teams increased for the seventh year in row and for the TENTH year in a row in the seven select conferences marking a decade of improvement.
• The percentage of women head coaches for the select seven conferences marked the second greatest increase (1.4%), building off momentum from the largest gain to date in the 2022-2023 Report Card (2.3% increase).
• The percentage of women head coaches for all NCAA D-I conferences increased by the largest margin (1.9%) in the history of the Report Card.
• For all NCAA D-I conferences
  • the most institutional A grades were earned (29 of 362, 8%), and the fewest Fs.
  • the largest number of sports earned an A grade this year (n = 7).
• University of Cincinnati has earned an A grade every year of the report.
• The percentage of women head coaches hired per year has more than doubled (51.9%) since we started the WCCRC in 2013 (25.8%).
• For three years in a row, a majority of positional vacancies in the select seven were filled by women.
• 2023-2024 marked the highest number of women coaches of color in the history of the report card (n = 308).
• The percentage of NCAA D-I women coaches of color increased from 245 (6.7%) in 2021-22 to 308 (8.3%) in 2023-24

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport released its annual 2022-2023 Women in College Coaching Report Card (WCCRC) logging the 11th year in collaboration with WeCOACH. The data in this report and over the past eleven years of the WCCRC documents longitudinal patterns of percentages of women head coaches within NCAA Division-I athletics.

Key Findings:

• THE TRENDS:
  • Based on the percentage of women head coaches of women’s teams, 10 of 87 (11.5%) institutions received an A grade for being above average compared to peer institutions. This is a dramatic & historic increase (the most ever!) in the number of institutions and that earned As!…and the fewest Fs!
  • For the second time in ten years and for two years in a row, a
    majority of positional vacancies (58.1%) were filled by women.
  • This year marks the first time all select seven conferences increased
    in the percentage of women head coaches.
  • Basketball the most lucrative, visible and popular women’s
    intercollegiate sport moved up to an A grade for the first time.
  • The percentage of women head coaches of NCAA D-I women’s teams
    in seven select conferences is up again for the ninth year in a row.
    The percentage of women head coaches increased by the largest
    margin (2.3%) in the history of the Report Card, and 2022 marked the
    second greatest increase (1.2%)
• THE LEADERS:
  • Institutional leader: California (77.8%), Cincinnati (77.8%)
  • Conference leader: Big Ten (54.3%)
  • Sport leader: Lacrosse (93.3%)
  • Emerging sport leader: Acrobatics & Tumbling (100%), Wrestling (100%)
• BLACK, INDIGENOUS, PEOPLE OF COLOR (BIPOC) COACHES:
  • Based on the data, women coaches of color are underrepresented (6.2%) as head coaches of women’s teams.
  • However, last year in this report women of color held 55 (5.7%) head coach positions of women’s teams, while this year that number increased to 61 (6.2%).
  • Only 12.1% (15 of 124) of all head coaches hired in the last year were women of color.
  • For the first time, a majority (65%, 15 of 23) of BIPOC coaches hired were women of color.
  • The American Conference evidenced the highest percentage of BIPOC women head coaches of women’s teams (12.9%).

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport released its annual 2021-2022 Women in College Coaching Report Card™ (WCCRC) marking the 10th year in collaboration with WeCOACH. Data in this report and over the last ten years of the WCCRC documents longitudinal patterns of percentages of women head coaches within NCAA Division-I athletics. Data this year points to some good news!

Key Findings:

• THE TRENDS:
  • First, the data indicate that the percentage of women head coaches of NCAA D-I women’s teams in Select 7 conferences is up again (43.7%) for the eighth year in a row, and for the fourth year in a row for all NCAA D-I women’s teams (43.4%).
  • Second, the data is headed in the right direction—UP!
  • Third, the percentage of women head coaches in the Select 7 conferences went up by the largest margin (1.3%) in the history of the WCCRC! Lastly, for the first time in 10 years, the number of women head coaches hired to replace outgoing coaches was greater than the number of men hired.
• THE LEADERS:
  • 23 of 359 (6.4%) NCAA D-I institutions earned an A grade (70%+ of women head coaches of women’s teams), up from 20 last year
    • Institutional leader: University of Rhode Island (90%)
    • Conference leader: Ivy League (56.4%)
    • Sport leader: Lacrosse (90.8%)
    • Emerging sport leader: Acrobatics & Tumbling (100%)
• BLACK, INDIGENOUS, PEOPLE OF COLOR (BIPOC) COACHES:
  • Based on the data, women coaches of color are vastly underrepresented (7.3%) as head coaches of women’s teams.
  • Of the 104 BIPOC coaches hired, 50 (48.1%) were women.
  • Five institutions at the time of data collection (Alabama A&M, Southern University at Baton Rouge, South Carolina State, Alcorn State, and Mississippi Valley State) had 100% BIPOC head coaches, while 98 institutions had 0% BIPOC head coaches.
  • The top five sports in which women coaches of color were represented as head coaches were: basketball (n=81, 22.7%), volleyball (n=42, 12.3%), tennis (n=26, 8.5%), track and field (n=28, 8%), and softball (n=20, 6.7%).
  • For NCAA D-I conferences, the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) had 89.4% and the Summit League had 7.7% BIPOC head coaches of women’s teams. The Big 12 had zero women head coaches of color.

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport released its annual Women in College Coaching Report Card.  Produced in collaboration with WeCOACH, the report documents the percentage of women in head coaching positions for women’s teams at 357 schools within NCAA Division I conferences for 2020-21.

Key Findings:

• THE TREND: The percentage of D-I women head coaches went up (.4%) and is now at 42.7% (up from 42.3% in 2019-20)—the data is trending in the right direction, but is still remarkably stagnant. At this rate, increasing on average .3% over the last nine years, it will take 22 years to reach 50% and 143 years to reach pre-Title IX levels (90%) of women coaching women.
• THE LEADERS for Percentage of NCAA D-I Women Head Coaches of Women Teams
  • Institutional leader: Florida A&M (85.7%)
  • Conference leader: Ivy League (55.1%) – also marks the first time a Conference has received a “B” grade
  • Sport leader: Wrestling (100%), NCAA emerging sport
• HISTORY IN THE MAKING: For the first time in report card history the majority (50.5%) of the 287 head coach hires were women in one year.
• COACHES OF COLOR: For the first-time the report analyzed coaches of color.
  • Based on the data, Women Coaches of Color are vastly underrepresented (7%) as head coaches of women teams
  • Over one-fourth (n=117, 28.6%) of Black head coaches, both men and women, are employed at HBCUs

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport released its annual Women in College Coaching Report Card.  Produced in collaboration with WeCOACH, the report documents the percentage of women in head coaching positions for women’s teams at 86 schools within seven select NCAA Division I conferences (AAC, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) for 2019-20.

Key Findings:

• The percentage of women head coaches in seven select NCAA Division I conferences went up for the seventh year in a row and is now at 42.3% (up from 41.8% in 2018-19)—the data is trending in the right direction!
• Leaders
  • Institutional leader: Cincinnati
  • Conference leader: Big Ten
• 49% of the institutions are WeCOACH institutional group members and 2 (Big 12, BIG East) are conference-wide members
• Out of 86 institutions, four earned A grades: Cincinnati, Central Florida, Washington and Oklahoma.
• Nine institutions earned F grades, including one school that had zero women head coaches.

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota released its annual Women in College Coaching Report Card (WCCRC) in collaboration with WeCOACH. The report documents the percentage of women in all coaching positions for women’s teams at NCAA Division-I institutions.

Key Findings:

• The percentage of D-I women Head Coaches went up and is now at 42.3% (up from 42.1% in 2018-19)—the data is trending in the right direction! but is remarkably stagnant.
• Leaders for Percentage of Women Head Coaches of Women Teams:
  • Institutional leader: Tennessee State (85.7%)
  • Conference leader: Ivy League (52.4%)
  • Sport leader: Wrestling (100%), NCAA emerging sport
• The majority (52.7%) of the 442 head coach hires were men.
• As the coaching position became more visible, lucrative and powerful, fewer women occupied the position. (i.e., from Graduate Assistant to Head Coach to Director of Sport)
• Starting at the Assistant Coach position, men are statistically and significantly older than women and are more likely to have children.
• Based on the data, we identified that the Assistant Coach is a critical zone of attrition in the career pipeline for women, possibly due in part to parental status. This report identifies leaks in the pipeline and opportunities for policy, support and programming.

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport released its annual Women in College Coaching Report Card.  Produced in collaboration with WeCOACH, the report documents the percentage of women in head coaching positions for women’s teams at 86 schools within seven select NCAA Division I conferences (AAC, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) for 2019-20.

Key Findings:

• The percentage of women head coaches in seven select NCAA Division I conferences went up for the seventh year in a row and is now at 42.3% (up from 41.8% in 2018-19)—the data is trending in the right direction!
• Leaders
  • Institutional leader: Cincinnati
  • Conference leader: Big Ten
• 49% of the institutions are WeCOACH institutional group members and 2 (Big 12, BIG East) are conference-wide members
• Out of 86 institutions, four earned A grades: Cincinnati, Central Florida, Washington and Oklahoma.
• Nine institutions earned F grades, including one school that had zero women head coaches.

2015-16 Head Coaches of Women’s Collegiate Teams: A Report on Select NCAA Division-I FBS Institutions.
This annual report, specifically documents the percentage of head coaches of women’s teams in “big time” collegiate athletics by institution and sport.

2014-15 Head Coaches of Women’s Collegiate Teams: A Report on Select NCAA Division-I FBS Institutions.
This annual report, specifically documents the percentage of head coaches of women’s teams in “big time” collegiate athletics by institution and sport.

Head Coaches of Women’s Collegiate Teams: A Report on Select NCAA Division-I FBS Institutions, 2013-14
This annual report specifically documents the percentage of head coaches of women’s teams in “big time” collegiate athletics by institution and sport.

The Decline of Women Coaches in Collegiate Athletics: A Report on Select NCAA Division-I FBS Institutions, 2012-13
A bi-annual report that documents the percentage of women coaches of women’s teams in “big time” college athletics by sport, conference and institution.