Management Team Diversity and Misconduct by Male Professional Athletes: An Empirical Examination

• In Event: 2451 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 20. Representation and Inclusivity I

Abstract

The demographic diversity of an organization’s executives and managers has the potential to influence firm-level outcomes by shaping strategic priorities, enhancing decision-making inputs, and changing workplace culture and practices. In this study, we examine whether there is a relationship between the gender and race/ethnic composition of executives and managers of teams in a men’s professional sport league, and subsequent misconduct by players on those teams. Employing multilevel and logistic regression analysis to unique data on the U.S. National Football League, we find that teams employing a critical mass of women executives or a critical mass of minority executives experience fewer player arrests. We discuss the implications of the findings for the demographic composition literature and for the management of professional sport organizations in the United States.

Authors

• Mary Graham, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics

• Bhavneet Walia, Syracuse University

• Chris Robinson, Tulane University