LGB-KASH and Shortened Workplace Incivility Among NCAA Division III Coaches

The current literature suggests that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) athletics staff members encounter difficulties in their workplace. Previous studies have examined the attitudes of high school coaches towards LGBTQIA student-athletes, but there is limited research on the attitudes of collegiate coaches. The purpose of this study was to describe the scores on the LGB-KASH and Shortened Workplace Incivility Scale among athletics staffs at the NCAA Division III. A total of 292 athletics staff members participated. Participants were emailed a survey that gathered demographics, LGB-KASH scores, and Shortened Workplace Incivility Scale scores. Pearson correlations were used to assess relationships between age, years of experiences, all subcategories of the LGB-KASH, and the Shortened Workplace Incivility Scale. An independent samples t-test was performed to determine differences between responses from heterosexual participants and gay, lesbian, and bisexual participants. There were small negative correlations between the Hate subcategory and the Civil Rights Category, and the Hate subcategory and the Civil Internalized Affirmation subcategory. There was also a small positive correlation between the Knowledge subcategory and the Internalized Affirmation subcategory. There were also significant differences between groups in the Knowledge, Religious Conflicts, and Internalized Affirmation subcategories. There were no significant differences in the Hate or Civil Rights subcategories, or the Shortened Workplace Incivility Scale. The majority of heterosexual participants agreed that an increased understanding of the LGBTQIA community would make them more comfortable around LGTBQIA individuals. Future research should examine the causes of the correlations described in this study.