Opportunity and Work Behavior in College Coaching

Opportunity for mobility and growth plays a large part in determining work behavior such as aspirations, satisfaction and work exit (Kanter, 1977). To have opportunity means to have many viable career and financial options, to have access to information on new job vacancies and to receive informal training. In this paper we explore the gendering of opportunity and of work behavior in Division I college coaching. The sample consisted of 947 coaches who responded to a questionnaire. Opportunity was assessed through access to positions, opportunities for income, channels to job information and frequency of feedback from supervisors. Career aspiration degree of satisfaction and likelihood of exit were the measures of work behavior. The results indicated that the work behaviors of the sample were those of people in low opportunity jobs and that the opportunities for women in college athletics were more circumscribed than those for men. The results were discussed in the context of Kanter's (1977) theory of gendered work behavior in male dominated organizations.