Diversity in Hiring Still Lagging

Women and minorities are losing ground in the hiring practices of professional and college sports, according to a study released Monday.

Every professional sport surveyed had lower averages for employing women, compared to the previous report in 2001, and minority hiring declined in pro and college sports, the study found.

“While we are creeping toward fair play, we still have a long road ahead,” said sports sociologist Richard Lapchick, author of the “Racial and Gender Report Card” published by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.

The worst offender was Major League Soccer, which was given an F for its gender hiring practices, the lowest grade ever issued by the report in a general category. The NFL and Major League Baseball received Ds in gender hiring.

“We consider ourselves a pretty diverse league,” said Trey Fitz-Gerald, MLS spokesman. “We’re pretty shocked we would receive an F.”

Saying league officials were studying the report, Fitz-Gerald surmised that the F might have been assessed because several female administrators left MLS to work for the professional Women’s United Soccer Assn. when it started in 2001.

Each organization was assigned a grade for race and another for gender, with an overall grade combining the two.

The NFL had the lowest combined grade in the report, reflecting significant declines in all positions for race and gender.

However, the data were compiled before the hiring of several African Americans to high-profile positions within the last year, among them Marvin Lewis as coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, Ozzie Newsome as general manager of the Baltimore Ravens and Mike Haynes as NFL vice president of player development.

“Diversity in the workplace is a very high league priority,” said Greg Aiello, NFL spokesman. “We are making progress and will continue to work hard in this area.”

The report reflects the racial and gender makeup of players, coaches and front office-athletic department personnel. It covers the 2001-02 seasons in the NBA and NHL, 2001 in the NFL, 2002 in Major League Baseball, MLS and WNBA, and the 2000-01 academic year for colleges.

The NBA continued to have the best record for diversity among all the men’s professional leagues, with minorities and women holding significant positions. Only the NBA, Major League Baseball and NHL had improved grades for race among professional leagues.

Colleges improved overall grades for race and gender, though 30 years after the advent of Title IX, only 45% of head coaches in women’s college sports are female.

Minorities lost ground in most of the top management positions, including general managers, team vice presidents and college athletic directors.