Organizational Justice and Job Satisfaction : Perceptions Among Coaches of Girls ' Teams

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational justice and job satisfaction in a sport environment. Three dimensions of organizational justice were assessed with regards to their relationship with five facets of job satisfaction and the job in general. The subjects for the study were high school coaches (N=203). The findings indicted a linear relationship (p<.05) between the fairness perceptions of each of the three organizational justice dimensions and most facets of job satisfaction and job in general. The study adds to the literature knowledge about relationships between job satisfaction and organizational justice in sport organizations. Organizational Justice and Job Satisfaction: Perceptions Among Coaches of Girls’ Teams Participation in interscholastic athletics grew in the 2002-03 school year to 6.8 million kids across the United States (Kanaby, 2003) and as reported by the NFHS News, surpassed the 7.1M mark during the 2005-06 school year (Participation increases for 17th consecutive year, 2006). The data compiled by the NFHS News indicated that girls accounted for approximately 41% of the high school student athletes that participated in interscholastic athletics. The dramatic rise from 8% prior to 1972 was a testament to the success of Title IX in promoting participation opportunities for girls. Looking deeper into the organizational structure of interscholastic athletics, however, parity has not been achieved for women as coaches nor as administrators (Whisenant, W., Vincent, J., Pedersen, P., & Zapalac, R., in press). With the number of girls seeking to play interscholastic athletics on the rise, the number of coaches and administrators needed to coordinate their activities escalated. Despite the increasing opportunities for women to assume these new coaching and administrative roles, in most cases, men often filled the positions (Chesebro, 1985; Heishman, Bunker, & Tutwiler, 1990). Research suggested that during the first fifteen years after the passage of Title IX (1972 to 1987), women coaching girls’ teams declined from 98% to less than 50% (Hart, Hasbrook, & Mathes, 1986; Heishman et al., 1990). In Texas, which accounted for 14% of all student athletes in the nation, women held less than 2% of the athletic director positions and fewer than 50% of the head coach positions for girls’ basketball (42%) and girls’ softball (46%). It was only volleyball that the number of women serving as the head coach exceeded the number of men (84%) (Whisenant, Vincent, Pedersen, & Zapalac, in press). Scholars have provided a range of causes for the inequity between men and women coaches of girls’ teams. Homologous reproduction, which suggests that the group in power replicates in its own image, advocated by Stangl and Kane (1991) and Lovett and Lowry (1994) would support the suggestion that hegemonic masculinity continues to thrive within interscholastic athletics. Changing priorities with respect to family, a desire to continue their education, and a reluctance to sacrifice personal time have been noted as three primary reasons for burnout among those women who have entered the coaching profession (Weiss & Stevens, 1993). Others have suggested that women leave the profession because they are disappointed with their own performance as coaches; their personal life and coaching career created a sense of role conflict; they felt there was a lack of opportunity to achieve their own professional goals; or they experienced a sense of tokenism (Felder & Wishnietsky, 1990; Hart et al., 1986; Knoppers, 1987). The previous studies suggest many instances that indicate job satisfaction remains an overriding variable that impacts a woman’s desire to continue in a career within interscholastic athletics. No work has been initiated to assess if men who coach girls’ teams also experience the same levels of job satisfaction as the women who coach girls’ teams. A need also exists for the introduction of organizational justice research into sport organizations to explore its effects on organizational outcomes such as job satisfaction and commitment (Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter, & Ng, 2001). This study has introduced three dimensions of organizational justice – procedural justice, distributive justice, and interpersonal justice – to the organizational setting of interscholastic athletics. Of particular interest is the determination of how the three justice dimensions impact five facets of job satisfaction – the work itself, pay, promotion opportunities, supervision, and co-workers – and the job in general. Organizational Justice The basis for the study of organizational justice research is Adams’ (1965) equity theory. Equity theory essentially focuses the perceptions individuals establish when they make judgments about their level of inputs compared to resulting outcomes. In effect, organizational members continually examine the relationship between their contributions (inputs) to the organization and the distributions (outcomes) made by the organization. Those transactions result in the group members forming various perceptions regarding the climate of fairness which exists within the organization. Those fairness perceptions then emerge to shape the level of organizational justice or fairness thought to exist within the organization (Greenberg, 1987, 1990; Greenberg & Cropanzano, 2001; Greenberg, Mark, & Lehman, 1985). Four dimensions of justice guide the current research trend in organizational justice (Greenberg & Cropanzano, 2001). Those dimensions include distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice, and anticipatory injustice. As noted previously, justice research initially focused on the fairness of the distribution of outcomes (Adams, 1965). The fairness of these outcomes provides the foundation for the dimension of distributive justice. Organizational members often feel a greater sense of fairness in the distribution of outcomes when they sense that the process used Organizational Justice and Job Satisfaction: Perceptions Among Coaches of Girls' Teams