Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Women basketball players--United States--Attitudes; Women basketball coaches--United States--Public opinion; Basketball coaches--United States--Public opinion; Academic theses;

Abstract

Framed within role congruity theory, the current study examined (a) if female collegiate basketball players have a preference toward male or female head and/or assistant coaches, (b) if the gender and enjoyment level of past head coaches influence preferences toward a male or female head coach and/or influence the perceived roles of women's basketball head coaches, (c) if there is a relationship between the perceived roles of women's basketball head coaches and female collegiate basketball players' preferences toward male or female head coaches, and ( d) if the enjoyment level of past and/or current assistant coaches influence preferences toward male or female assistant coaches and/or influence the perceived roles of women's basketball assistant coaches. Fifty-nine women's basketball players from 10 Division I universities completed a survey that included a consent form, demographic questions, the list of managerial sub-roles, rank order of sub-roles, and questions regarding preferences and the gender of past and current coaches. Using a point allocation method with a scale from 0-100, preferences for a male head coach displayed a higher mean score (M = 63.46) than did preferences for a female head coach (M = 36.54), t(58) = 5.18, p < .01. Preferences for male or female assistant coaches were fairly even (M = 51.85, M = 48.15 respectively). The participants were separated into three groups based on the gender of the head coach they have enjoyed the most and whether or not they had a high school female head coach. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that preference toward gender of head coach was significant, F(2, 56) = 14.72,p < .001, with those who did not have a female high school coach and enjoyed a male coach the most with the greatest preference towards male coaches. The analyses on the perceived roles of women's basketball head coaches were insignificant. Differences in preferences toward the gender of assistant coaches and on the perceived roles of the assistant coaches were insignificant. It was concluded that female collegiate basketball players have a preference toward male head coaches, and past backgrounds influence those preferences. It was also concluded that the perceived roles of coaches are not related to athletes' preferences and backgrounds. Finally, it was discovered that role congruity theory might not be the appropriate explanation for why certain preferences exist in women's basketball. Experience with both male and female coaches may help lead to even preferences, so it is vital that the numbers of female coaches increase, especially at younger age levels.

Year of Submission

2013

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Jennifer Waldron

Second Advisor

Mick Mack

Third Advisor

Christopher Kowalski

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2013

Object Description

1 PDF file (91 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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