A survey of African American employees within the athletic departments of Mid-American Conference schools

INTRODUCTION: It was believed that African Americans are underrepresented in administration positions in college athletic departments. Since African Americans are the largest minority in this country and on some college teams, make up the majority of rosters, it would be expected to find more African Americans holding athletic administration positions. It has been suggested that a lack of role models could be to blame. This deficiency could be due to such factors as the educational trends of African Americans or the fallacy of African Americans being less intelligent. Two other possible factors contributing to the lack of African American administrators could be media misinformation and the social mobility myth. PURPOSE: To determine the number of African Americans holding administration positions compared to non-administration positions in the Mid-American athletic conference.SIGNIFICANCE: The data collected will add to the database of information concerning the number of African American administrators at the collegiate level. METHOD: A questionnaire designed to solicit information concerning the number of African American employees was sent to the athletic director and affirmative action director at each Mid-American Conference school. A cover letter designed to explain the purpose of the study and how the results would be used accompanied the questionnaire. Each institution was assigned a random number to help ensure confidentiality. Along with the number, the letter "A" was assigned to the athletic directors and the letter "B" was assigned to the affirmative action directors. This coding system was used to identify which questionnaire was being returned.Two weeks after the return deadline a follow-up letter was sent to those who had not returned the first questionnaire. The results were compiled to give an overall view of the African American representation in administration positions at MidAmerican Conference schools.