Women Leaders in College Sports Collaborates on NCAA Division I and III Athletic Director Research

PRESS RELEASE

July 26, 2017

Contacts:
Rachel DeSchepper
Women Leaders in College Sports
[email protected]
816-389-8208

Karen Sung
Arizona State University
[email protected]
480-727-9052

Kansas City, Mo. – Women Leaders in College Sports, the nation’s premier women’s athletic leadership association, is excited to announce a collaboration with Glenn M. Wong—executive director and distinguished professor of practice, with the Sports Law & Business Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University—on a research project that analyzes the demographics and career trajectory of NCAA Division I and DIII athletic directors.*

The intention of the research—which was completed and up-to-date as of June 23, 2017—is to better understand the hiring trends, career paths, education, and experience both men and women athletic directors have before they landed AD jobs at DI and DIII institutions. With this valuable information, Women Leaders in College Sports will be able to supplement its existing professional development curriculum, and Women Leaders members will be able to make more informed career-promoting and -advancing decisions. 

“The Sports Law & Business Program at ASU Law is honored to join forces with Women Leaders in College Sports,” Wong says. “We anticipate that this and other research projects, along with the relevant educational initiatives provided by the Sports Law & Business Program, will assist Women Leaders in helping diversify the ranks of collegiate athletic administrators to be more reflective of the student-athletes they serve. We look forward to partnership opportunities that allow us to provide a meaningful impact on the sports industry.”

Preliminary research findings were presented to DI and DII/III attendees of the Women Leaders/NCAA Executive Institute the week of July 17-20, 2017, and the full report will be presented by Wong at the Women Leaders National Convention, October 8-10, 2017, in Dallas, Texas. 

“Women Leaders strives to continue to provide our members with the most-recent and most-informative information on hiring trends, including the career path trends of women who have landed athletic director jobs,” says Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in College Sports. “I’m thrilled that Glenn Wong and his team stepped up to the challenge and provided us with this important information, which will only help us support our mission of diversifying the pool of collegiate athletic directors.” To create the report, Wong and his team collected public data from the biographical stubs included on institutions' athletics websites. They analyzed all 348 NCAA Division I athletic director biographies, and the appropriate information was transmitted to the database. The ADs were then separated out by gender, ethnicity, age, and other demographic categories.

Summary of research:

  • Between 2016-2017 there have been 64 new DI AD hires
  • Females make up 17 percent of those hires
  • The 2016-2017 hiring trends are positive for an increase of women as ADs
  • Business and legal skills are increasingly becoming more important for all hires
  • Prior AD experience is very important for Power 5 ADs
  • Female candidates earning some type of professional degree may (and likely does) make female far more attractive candidates for Power 5/DI AD jobs.

The full report will be released after the Women Leaders National Convention, later this year. ​

* Edit, July 31, 2017: We are working with Dr. Wong to expand his research to Division II. 

About Women Leaders in College Sports

Founded in 1979, Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA; www.womenleadersincollgesports.org) is the only nationally recognized collegiate professional membership organization whose mission is to develop, connect, and advance women leaders working in intercollegiate athletics. More than 3,500 members strong, Women Leaders promotes the growth, leadership, and success of women as athletics administrators, conference commissioners, professional staff, coaches, and student-athletes.

About the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University is one of the country’s preeminent law schools. Ranked No. 25 nationally by U.S. News & World Report, ASU Law is a leading provider of comprehensive and personalized legal education. The law school ranks Top 20 in the nation for job placement and No. 1 in the state for student outcomes. Located in a new, state-of-the-art building in downtown Phoenix, ASU Law is steps away from the legal, political, and economic heart of Arizona. For more information, visit law.asu.edu.