Do Minority Lead Executives Experience Inferior Labor Market Outcomes? Evidence From National Collegiate Athletics Association Men’s Basketball

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Racial minorities are underrepresented in top executive positions, and existing research focuses largely on employment entry and subsequent promotion. Accordingly, very little is known about labor market outcomes for minorities in lead executive positions. Using a data set spanning over 30 years from National Collegiate Athletics Association men’s basketball, we demonstrate that Non-White lead executives (head coaches) enter into significantly more difficult jobs at hire and have historically experienced shorter employment spells. We find no significant differences by race in (a) the probability of being rehired into a future National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I lead executive position, (b) the likelihood of entering into a subsequent spell with lesser resources, (c) the likelihood of signing a contract extension, and (d) the likelihood of being hired away by a competing program. However, we do find evidence indicating Non-White lead executives are rehired into equivalent positions more quickly.