The WNBA again led all leagues for diversity hiring in '20, receiving an overall grade of A+, according to a report issued by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES). That included an A+ grade in both racial and gender hiring for the league. "They have gone 16 consecutive years of never getting a grade for race, gender or the overall grade of less than an A," said TIDES Dir Richard Lapchick. "Those are unprecedented in many other leagues that they are compared to."
TIDES also provides gender and racial scores for major sports leagues, including the NFL, NBA, WNBA and MLB. The only men's sports leagues that were close, in comparison to the WNBA, were the NBA and the MLS, which received grades of A+ and A, respectively, for racial hiring, according to the TIDES report released today. All of their numeric grades for race, gender and overall diversity hiring improved in '20 over '19.
The WNBA showed marked advances in the areas of hiring women in the league office and the hiring of women CEOs and presidents, Lapchick said. The one area that needs improvement is gender hiring of general managers, he added. "They can emphasize that in the future, but overall, they are definitely the standard setter," Lapchick said. "I think the WNBA is the model for America, whether it's in sports or out of sports."
WNBA'S TIDES GRADES FOR DIVERSITY HIRING |
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
Racial hiring |
A+ (95.1) |
A+ (95.6) |
A+ (96.7) |
Gender hiring |
A+ (99.9) |
A (94) |
A+ (98) |
Overall |
A+ (97.6) |
A+ (94.8) |
A+ (97.4) |
