The recent research conducted in Divisions II and III uncovered a wide perception gap between athletics directors and senior woman administrators. In short, ADs believe the SWAs at their institutions feel empowered to make decisions, but SWAs do not.

Areas in which SWAs feel particularly left out of the decision-making process are budget and finance, fund-raising and personnel.

Bonnie Tiell, associate professor in sport management at Tiffin University and a former SWA, said that she forged a good working relationship with her AD, but conversations with colleagues led her to believe that her experience wasn't uniform. Those conversations and her own history prompted her to ask questions about how the SWA role is perceived on individual campuses by both athletics directors and SWAs themselves.

Tiell's research asked ADs and SWAs to rate their level of agreement with statements commonly understood to be part of the responsibilities of an SWA.

A few key statements saw a wide disparity between the perception of the SWA and that of the AD. For example, about 65 percent of Division II and 66 percent of Division III SWAs agreed or strongly agreed that on their campuses, the SWA is a decision-maker. In contrast, 81 percent of Division II ADs and 91 percent of Division III ADs felt the same way.

The number of female athletics directors is on the rise in Division III -- which has more female ADs than either of the other divisions -- but the research results make clear that the gender of the athletics director isn't important in explaining the perception gap. Both female and male athletics directors are equally likely to believe their SWAs are a major part of the decision-making team, even when their SWA doesn't share that belief.

While many SWAs indicated that they weren't surprised by the finding, some athletic directors were shocked. Val Cushman, athletics director at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, said the results were surprising to many of her peers.

"I've heard athletics directors asking themselves, 'Wow, does this reflect me?' " Cushman said. "I perceived my SWA to be empowered, but according to this research, it's likely that she feels she is not."

Cushman said just getting athletics directors talking about the issue could be a positive step in propelling the problem into the spotlight. Cushman believes the survey results match anecdotal evidence she has heard. As a member of the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics, Cushman believes she is sensitive to gender issues, but she thinks even she could do a better job on her campus of empowering the SWA.

"As much as I try to be aware and conscious of empowering women, the results of the study made me think -- well, it made me go back to my SWA and ask the question, though not as pointedly as even I should, based on the results," she said. "(Making people talk about perceptions of the SWA role) would be a wonderful outcome, and that conversation in and of itself could have resounding effects."

Rosalie Resch, associate athletics director for business and finance and SWA at the University of Chicago, said that while she has enjoyed decision-making opportunities and feels empowered on her campus, her experience may not be the norm.

"There has been some lip service paid to designating someone as an SWA, but not really defining their role institutionally and not providing other title support," Resch said. "I have seen instances where it's a satisfaction of the requirement, but not necessarily a meaningful role for that individual."

In both Divisions II and III, empowering the SWA can be tricky because of the number of nonadministrative responsibilities she might have. For example, some SWAs also are coaches, and to have the SWA in charge of performance reviews of peers would likely be a conflict. But Cushman suggests there are plenty of ways around that -- such as giving an SWA budget authority over intramurals or athletic training to gain financial knowledge, or allowing her to assist in hiring an assistant coach instead of a head coach to gain experience with personnel decisions.

Janet Kittell, associate director of athletics at Syracuse University, said simple education about the SWA role among the campus leadership would be a good step toward bringing SWAs and athletics directors closer together.

"How do you fix this? The athletics directors and the chancellors and presidents need to have a lecture or a discussion," she said. "It was and still is a male-dominated industry and the women's voice is needed."

Tiell said the education process can start very small. Simply ensuring that SWAs attend the same meetings with representatives from other areas of the university more than once a semester could be a big step forward.

"To improve, it's a two-way street, and they have to make an effort," she said. "Perhaps the (athletics director) needs to take the lead in recognizing that."

-- Michelle Brutlag Hosick