It takes a village: women's careers in NCAA coaching

Purpose This article aims to investigate the barriers that NCAA women coaches face in their careers. We employ the ecological systems theory (EST) to analyze barriers on four different levels: individual, interpersonal, organizational and societal. Design/methodology/approach We used semi-structured interviews with 18 NCAA women coaches. Using an interpretive lens, we offer nuanced descriptions of the barriers that women coaches face throughout their careers and how these barriers impact each other. Findings We identify three main categories of barriers, analyze them across levels, and propose the connections and directionality of impact between these barriers, thus uncovering the nuanced dynamics of their interplay. Originality/value We refine EST framework by demonstrating the connections across levels, as well as the flow of these connections, that can be uni- or bidirectional. We also identify a disproportionate impact of the organizational level on barriers at other levels, highlighting its significance in the research context.