Strategies for Increasing Minorities and Women in Sport Management and Physical Education Teacher Preparation Programs: Common Recruitment and Retention Themes

• Published in: Women in sport & physical activity journal Vol. 5; no. 2; pp. 89 - 97
• Main Authors: Hums, Mary A., O’Bryant, Camille P., Tremble, Linda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greensboro University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Program for the Advancement of Girls and Women in Sport and Physical Activity 01.10.1996
• Subjects: Colleges & universities; Education; Employment; Higher education; Minority & ethnic groups; Teachers; Teaching
• ISSN: 1063-6161; 1938-1581
• DOI: 10.1123/wspaj.5.2.89

Although the labor force in the United States is becoming more diverse as we near the turn of the century (Denton, 1992; Hudson Institute, 1987), this trend of diversity is not seen in the sport industry and the physical education teaching fields (Crase & Walker, 1988; Lapchick, 1996). Academic teacher preparation programs are the focus of entry into these careers. The apparent lack of diversity within sport management and physical education teacher preparation programs prompted us (Hums, 1994), and later, O'Bryant (1996) to conduct studies on recruitment and retention of racial/ethnic minorities and women into these two academic preparation tracks. We have written this commentary in order to share insights into what our studies revealed about effective recruitment and retention strategies in each of these disciplines. In this commentary, we looked within and across these two academic disciplines for how to best understand and develop successful recruitment and retention strategies. The questions asked and the data analyses incorporated come from different paradigmatic perspectives, yet we believe that efforts made to increase diversity within these respective fields are strengthened by understanding the similarities of the research. In a national survey of sport management programs by Hums (1994), sport management program directors were queried as to specific strategies their departments used for recruiting and retaining minority students. The three recruiting strategies used most often were 1) actively seeking minority faculty, 2) faculty participating in campus minority recruiting events, and 3) offering internships or field experiences with minority organizations. The three strategies used least often were 1) specifically recruiting minority students from with minority services such as churches, or community service organizations, 2) attending predominantly minority college recruitment fairs, and 3) advertising in minority journals. For retention strategies, the three most often used were 1) incorporating minority issues in courses, 2) researching minority issues in sport and 3) encouraging minority students to present at professional conferences. The three strategies used least often were 1) offering advisement initiatives such as mentoring programs, 2) active networking with current sport management students at other institutions and 3) offering courses specific to minority concerns in sport management. Based upon a review of the literature related to recruitment and retention of racial/ethnic diverse people into physical education teacher education programs, a variety of factors contributed to successful recruitment and retention of minority students. These factors include, but are not limited to, curriculum, mentoring, advising, and administrative aspects of the collegiate experience for students enrolled in physical education teacher preparation degree programs. O'Bryant (1996) explored and described the impact of race/ethnicity and gender on a woman's decision to become a physical education teacher. The main categories for successful recruitment and retention of African American women which emerged from this study included 1) curricular issues, 2) enhancing the attractiveness of teaching, 3) provision of alternative routes to certification and 4) advising and mentoring issues. Explanations of these four categories which emerged from O'Bryant's (1996) study are presented next.