Left to right – Joanne Ferguson, Betsy Hipple, Alaina Wu (Image courtesy of CMS and PP Athletics)
Fifty-two years ago, the passage of Title IX banned sex discrimination in schools and other educational programs, forever changing women's sports. Since that momentous day, women have continued to fight for leadership positions in the NCAA. Iconic figures such as Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer and University of Tennessee's Pat Summitt exemplify progress to date, but the war has not been won and coaching The fight for gender equality continues across the United States.
Across all NCAA divisions, women make up 42% of head coaches for women's teams, but only 6% of men's teams. In Division III athletics, this statistic is only 1.8% fairer, with 43.8% of women's teams being coached by women. Neither of his NCAA athletic programs at Claremont meet this standard, even though the statistics are already unfair.
Pomona-Pitzer (PP) has a female head coach percentage of just 37.5%, which is below the national average. Further down the list, Claremont Mudd-Scripps (CMS), which has only five of 17 female head coaches, has a lower score of 29.4 percent.
CMS softball coach Betsy Hipple said that despite the small number of female coaches, the 5C is able to retain these coaches long-term because of the supportive environment it fosters within the athletic department. It is said that it has been completed.
Hipple coached Atenas from 2005 to 2017, then returned for the 2023-2024 season. She led CMS to her sixth NCAA National Championship Tournament appearance. She spoke about her positive experiences from her years of coaching at Claremont.
“I think Claremont College overall is a really great place to work and go to school,” Hipple said. “I just think [Claremont] It's a very special place. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a more supported, more trusted address in terms of female coaches in women's sports, and I think it's across the street as well. ”
PP Softball Coach Joanne Ferguson, who previously played at DIII Shippensburg University and then coached at Division I George Washington University, is a small DIII athletic team with a particular focus on supporting female players and coaches. He said he has also seen the benefits of the program.
“It was great to come back and have a more holistic approach to coaching and teaching,” Ferguson said. “We have great female role models in this department who support us administratively, so it feels like a very positive place to be as a female coach.”
According to PP women's basketball coach Alaina Wu, role models are key to increasing the number of women in head coaching positions. Wu, who is a Pomona College graduate herself, said she was encouraged to transition into coaching by her college basketball coach, Jill Pace. She returned to Claremont in 2019 after Wu took her first assistant coaching job at Tufts University under Carla Berube, who is currently the head coach of the Princeton University basketball program.
“I think having good role models makes a huge difference for student-athletes and women who want to go into coaching,” Wu said. “I was very fortunate to work for two truly amazing women who not only supported me as a student-athlete and encouraged me to pursue a coaching career.” [but also] He coached me when I was an assistant coach. [and continue to] I still really support them. ”
Ferguson explained how these role models can be of any gender.
“My dad started playing fastball softball in that area.” [I grew up in] Because he had two daughters,” Ferguson said. “He wanted to give women an avenue to play softball…I think he would think it's pretty cool that I'm still coaching.”
Ferguson and Wu noted that the 5Cs have been successful in retaining female coaches, but this is not the case across the NCAA. Organizations like WeCOACH are looking to increase the number of women who not only hire, but also stay in coaching positions for the long term. Ferguson said one of the reasons female coach retention rates are low is because they don't have enough support from athletic departments.
“Having a strong full-time support staff within the program will help retain women,” Ferguson said. “I also think having a support group or affinity group for women within the department, and even within the athletic program, would be very helpful.”
All three coaches emphasized the importance of gaining experience as an assistant coach on the path to head coaching, but Wu pointed to the difficulties many women face in getting their first big break. did.
“I think a lot of times people have very specific ideas about who they want as an assistant coach,” Wu said. “I think being willing to take a risk on new graduates, people with passion, women who really want to be coaches is really important in getting women into the industry.”
But just because you can overcome the hurdles of the hiring process doesn't mean it's going to be easy. When entering the coaching profession, women still face the challenge of unrealistic expectations and responsibilities, which Ferguson described as gender-exclusive.
“I think sometimes the expectation of a white, male, cisgender coach is just to coach,” Ferguson said. “This may be my perception, but I feel like I'm taking on a lot more, not just in sports, but in terms of connecting with people and really balancing relationships and results.”
Important work remains to be done to make it easier for women to get into college coaching jobs and make a living in their sport after graduation.
“If you feel like playing, [then] Play,” Hipple said. “If you want to be on a team, join a team. If you're inclined to think you might like coaching, give it a try. It's a very fulfilling way to make a living.”
