An Endangered Species: Characteristics and Perspectives from Female NCAA Division I Athletic Directors of Both Separate and Merged Athletic Departments

Abstract

The trend of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic departments merging under one athletic director has been ongoing for over twenty years. Colleges and universities across the country have continually chosen to restructure their athletic departments under one athletic director, instead of retaining one for women’s sports and one for men’s sports. In September 2004, Brigham Young University became the latest on a long list of athletic departments that have succumbed to the financial, social, and institutional pressures to merge athletic departments under the roof of one athletic director (Harmon, 2004). This nationwide movement continues to effect women who have served as athletic directors’ of separate women’s programs at NCAA Division I institutions, as well as those females leading merged NCAA Division I athletic departments. The result has been an overall decrease in the number of female athletic directors at the NCAA Division I level.