Gender equity in athletics at historically black colleges and universities: The perspective of men's and women's basketball coaches

Gender equity in athletics has been a highly debated topic, particularly since the inception of Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments. Although several studies have been conducted on gender equity in intercollegiate athletics, no known studies were conducted exclusively on historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). However, several reports regarding the financial challenges as well as the high enrollment of female students versus male students at HBCUs have suggested the inability or difficulty for HBCUs to achieve gender equity, especially using the proportionality test. This study focused exclusively on gender equity in athletics at HBCUs from the perspective of men's and women's basketball coaches. Basketball coaches from four (4) athletic conferences whose member schools are HBCUs responded to a gender equity questionnaire. Although the findings of the study indicated some areas of concern and room for improvement, the overall results were encouraging and positive perceptions of gender equity at HBCUs. As a result, it contradicts previous reports that indicated the inability or difficulty for HBCUs to achieve gender equity in athletics.