DENTON, Texas (10/23/08) - The University of North Texas athletics department ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference and 26th in the country in the second annual
Glass Ceiling Report Card released by Penn State University-York. The study measures a university’s commitment to women’s athletics by analyzing how well major colleges and conferences provide coaching opportunities for women.
The coaching staffs of 115 colleges among 11 Division 1-A conferences during the 2005-06 academic sports year were covered in this study.
Four main categories were researched - the percentage of women who are head coaches of men's teams, head coaches of women's teams, assistant coaches of men's teams, and assistant coaches of women's teams. The college's score is based upon the total of the four categories. The data was taken from the
Chronicle of Higher Education's study in 2007 on "gender equity", according to the data given to the U.S. Department of Education, as required by the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act of 1994.
North Texas received a ranking above several prestigious universities including Duke, Tennessee, Stanford, North Carolina, and Notre Dame.
North Texas’ nine women’s sports teams are enjoying a period of success, both on and off the playing field. The Mean Green softball, tennis, soccer and volleyball teams all have upgraded into new facilities over the past few years.
The North Texas women's soccer team has never had a losing season in its 14 years of existence. The Mean Green has won at least 11 games each season and reached the NCAA tournament twice. In 2008, the North Texas women’s outdoor track & field team placed second at the Sun Belt Conference Championship and produced a qualifier for the NCAA championships in Ciara Smith. The team won the Sun Belt Championships in 2003 and has placed third or better in the conference since 2002.
