An examination of the diversity of the NCAA Division I pipeline to athletic director

The purpose of this study is to examine the diversity in the NCAA DI FBS pipeline to the Athletic Director position. This examination will occur through assessment of racial and gender data gathered for assistant and associate athletic directors within the FBS. The population will be tested using an electronic survey that will be created by the researcher using PsychData. The 7-point Likert Scale of Agreement (Vagias, 2006) will be used for the survey and certain questions will require the participant to provide an explanation of their answer. For this research, a descriptive study design was chosen. Percentages will also be used in order to describe the experiences in the pipeline. Diversity practices were concluded to be prevalent within FBS athletic administration. The conclusions from this data revealed that racial and gender minorities are given opportunities to reach upper level administrative positions. This study found racial diversity to be lacking within the associate and assistant athletic director position and therefore, it is expected that the AD position will continue to lack racial diversity. The NCAA, institutions, and individuals can use results of this study to realize the benefits of moving away from non-diverse aspects of hierarchical structures within college athletics and toward a more egalitarian frame of mind.