A recent NCAA report showed that ethnic minority women make up only 1.6 percent of athletic directors at institutions involved in intercollegiate athletics at the Division I, II and III levels – including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Drop HBCUs from the equation and the rate falls under 1 percent.
While the NCAA has long advocated for change and greater representation for women and minorities in authority positions – such as athletic directors, head coaches and leadership positions at athletic conferences – the approach has changed since Charlotte Westerhaus was appointed vice president for diversity and inclusion in 2005. Prior to the Westerhaus appointment, the NCAA engaged its leadership in discussions. She changed the focus to the grassroots.
The most recent crucial step in the process took place at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis when the NCAA co-hosted the Women of Color Symposium with the Black Women in Sport Foundation (BWSF) earlier this month. Symposium participants are now working together to develop recommendations for attracting and retaining women of color in leadership positions throughout intercollegiate athletics, which will be distributed in late summer or early fall.
“We identified things like lack of mentoring, gender role expectations and tokenism,” Westerhaus said.
“We also talked about various social networks of power and how to change that. We are looking at research that’s not just demographics and counting heads. We want to be realistic and pragmatic, especially in these times with issues facing intercollegiate athletics,” she added.
Westerhaus was particularly pleased that this symposium included a broad range of women of color, including African-American, Asian and Hispanic women. She said it reflects the changing demographics and who is coming through the pipeline.
“We have to be the catalyst, because, if we don’t express how we feel and come up with some strategic plans to make people share power, then no one will,” said Tina Sloan Green, co-founder and president of the BWSF and the first African-American woman to coach Division I lacrosse.
