Abstract

In the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the largest governing organization for intercollegiate athletics. All NCAA member institutions must designate the highest-ranking woman in athletic administration as the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA). The SWA role is “intended to encourage and promote the involvement” of women in decision-making, enhance the representation women’s experiences and perspectives, and support women’s interests in intercollegiate athletics (NCAA, n.d.). This theory focus paper uses a feminist poststructural policy analysis of the NCAA’s SWA policy. First this paper introduces the historical background of women’s leadership in higher education and Title IX policy that frame the context of the SWA designation. Next, previous research related to the SWA is discussed, revealing inconsistency in this policy’s impact on women in leadership and governance of athletics. From the presentation of the historical framework and previous research this paper concludes with an analysis of the SWA designation using a feminist poststructural lens and offers recommendations for policy reform.