Take a look at pictures of the coaches in your athletics program. How many men do you see? How many women? How many people of color? Have you ever asked your athletics director how he/she works to make the staffs more reflective of the athletes in the program?

We're joined by a researcher who thinks deeply about this issue, with a particular emphasis on recruiting and retaining women in college coaching.

I’m joined by Dr. Nicole LaVoi. Nicole is the Director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota, and, in a previous life, a head women’s tennis coach and a member of a Division III NCAA Tennis team championship. She earned both her master’s and PhD from Minnesota, so that makes her a “double Gopher”.

Nicole also serves on the Board of Directors for WeCOACH, espnW (college committee), and the Sports Advisory Network for the Women’s Sport Foundation.

Her seminal research includes the annual Women in College Coaching Report Card™ which is aimed at retaining and increasing the number of women in the coaching profession.