An open discussion of issues related to women in CoSIDA will include an overview of the focus groups looking at job satisfaction. Primary researcher Marie Hardin will be available at the meeting to answer questions about the focus groups.
Marie Hardin (left) of Penn State's Center for Sports Journalism and FAME's Mary Jo Haverbeck discuss job satisfaction research to be conducted in San Diego.
The Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State will be conducting focus groups of women in sports information in conjunction with the 50th anniversary workshop of the College Sports Information Directors of America in San Diego.
"We are very interested in what contributes to job satisfaction and career tenure for female SIDs. One reason is because our Center has many female students who aspire to go into the field, but we know that it's a male-dominated profession. This research will help us better prepare young women for these careers," Marie Hardin said of the research. Hardin is the associate director of the Center for Sports Journalism and an assistant professor in Penn State's College of Communications.
The center published the results of a survey of women in sports media in the May 2006 issue of Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, in which respondents addressed harassment in the work force, coverage of women's sports and sexual discrimination. They also suggested practical ways the industry could recruit and retain women.
Hardin said focus groups participants in San Diego will be invited to discuss their work environment, career and personal goals and what they believe to be the most pressing issues facing female SIDs. To allow participants to speak freely, their names will not be attached to any published results, Hardin added.
Hardin and Erin Whiteside, a Ph.D. student in the Center for Sports Journalism and former Penn State SID, will conduct the focus groups at convenient times on all three days of the convention. A $25 donation will be made to FAME for each participant.
Those interested in joining the focus groups can e-mail Hardin at
mch208@psu.edu. Each focus group session will last 90 minutes.