College of Education and Human Development

School of Kinesiology

Nicole M. LaVoi

  • Pronouns: she, her, hers

  • Senior Lecturer, Sport Sociology; Associate Director for Innovation and Professional Development

Nicole LaVoi

Areas of interest

Sport psychology, sport sociology, girls and women in sports, gender, coaching science & education, business of women's sport

Degrees

BA, Gustavus Adolphus College, 1991. Majors: health fitness and communications

MA, kinesiology, University of Minnesota, 1995. Emphasis: sport psychology

PhD, kinesiology, University of Minnesota, 2002. Emphasis: sport psychology, sport sociology

Biography

Graduate education faculty

Director, Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport

Twitter: @DrSportPsych

Connect with Dr. LaVoi on LinkedIN

Read Dr. LaVoi's blog, One Sport Voice

Dr. LaVoi's Tucker Center Distinguished Lecture: Paradox, Pitfalls & Parity: Where Have all the Women Coaches Gone? (Fall, 2016)

Nicole M. LaVoi, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer in the area of social and behavioral sciences in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota where she is the Director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. She received MA (’96) and doctoral degrees (’02) in Kinesiology with an emphasis in sport psychology/sociology from the University of Minnesota. After completing her graduate work, Dr. LaVoi was a Research & Program Associate in the Mendelson Center for Sport & Character at the University of Notre Dame (2002-‘05) where she helped launch the Play Like a Champion character education through sport series, and was also an instructor in the Psychology Department. LaVoi was an Assistant Professor of Physical Education and the Head Women’s Tennis Coach at Wellesley College (1994-’98), and the Assistant Women’s Tennis Coach at Carleton College (1991-’93).

Through her multidisciplinary research she answers critical questions that can make a difference in the lives of sport stakeholders—particularly girls and women. As a leading scholar on women coaches LaVoi has published numerous book chapters, research reports and peer reviewed articles across multiple disciplines. Her seminal research includes the annual Women in College Coaching Report Card which is aimed at retaining and increasing the number of women in the coaching profession, and a groundbreaking book Women in Sports Coaching (2016). She also collaborates with colleagues on media representations of women in sport, including co-producing an Emmy-winning best sports documentary with tptMN titled Media Coverage & Female Athletes: Women Play Sports, Just Not in the Media (2013), and Game ON: Women Can Coach (2018). As a public scholar she speaks frequently to sport stakeholders around the globe and serves on national advisory boards. She is also the founder and director of the annual Women Coaches Symposium held on the U of MN campus which serves over 350+ women coaches of all sport and all levels. LaVoi focuses her research on the relational qualities of the coach-athlete relationship, the physical activity of underserved girls, the barriers and supports experienced by women in sport coaching, and media representations of girls and women in sport.

LaVoi played four years of intercollegiate tennis at Gustavus Adolphus College where her team placed 4th (’89), 2nd (’91) and won the NCAA-III National Championships in 1990. She is a two-time NCAA Academic All-American.

Professional experience
  • University of Minnesota, School of Kinesiology & Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, Minneapolis, MN. 2005-present
  • University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame, IN., director of sports programming, Center for Ethical Education and The Mendelson Center for Sports, Character & Community. 2002-2005.
  • Wellesley College, Assistant Professor of physical education & head women’s tennis coach, Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics. Wellesley, MA. 1994-1998.
  • Carleton College, assistant women’s tennis coach. Northfield, MN. 1992-1993.
Professional memberships
Publications

LaVoi, N. M., & Silva-Breen, H. (2022). Longitudinal Analysis of Head Coach Employee Turnover of Women's NCAA DI Teams. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 15(1).

Knoppers, A., de Haan, D., Norman, L., & LaVoi, N.M. (2022). Elite women coaches negotiating and resisting power in football. Gender, Work & Organization, 29(3), 880-896.

LaVoi, N. M., & Glassford, S. (2021). ‘This is our family’: LGBTQ family narratives in online coaching biographies. Journal of Homosexuality. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2021.1921506

LaVoi, N. M. & Boucher, C. (2021). Supporting and Developing Women in Sport Coaching: A Career Trajectory Approach. In Leanne Norman (Ed.) Improving Gender Equity in Sport Coaching. Routledge

LaVoi, N. M. (2020). Sport Coach Development: Education and Mentorship for Women. In B. Callary and B. Gearity (Eds.), Coach Education and Development in Sport: Instructional Strategies, p. 230-214. Routledge.

Daniels, B., Hood, A., LaVoi, N. M., & Cooky, C. (2020). Sexualized and athletic: Viewers’ attitudes toward sexualized performance images of female athletes. Sex Roles. doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01152-y

Wasend, M. A., & LaVoi, N. M. (2019). Are women coached by women more likely to become sport coaches? Head coach gender and female collegiate athletes’ entry into the coaching profession. Women’s Sport & Physical Activity Journal, 27(2), 85-93.

LaVoi, N. M., McGarry, & J. E., Fisher, L. A. (2019). Final thoughts on women in sport coaching: Fighting the war. Women’s Sport & Physical Activity Journal, 27(2), 136-140.

Hamilton, M. G. B., & LaVoi, N. M. (2019). Coaches Who Care: Moral Exemplars in Collegiate Athletics, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 32(1), 81-103. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2018.1557763

LaVoi, N. M., & Wasend, M .K. (2018, July). Athletic administration best practices of recruitment, hiring and retention of female collegiate coaches. Minneapolis, MN: Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. To read the full report, click here.

Women in College Coaching Report Cards 2012-2021 click here.

LaVoi, N. M., & Silva-Breen, H. (2018, July). Head coaches of women’s collegiate teams: A comprehensive report on NCAA Division-I institutions, 2017-18. Minneapolis: Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport.

LaVoi, N. M., Wasend, M., & Baeth, A. (2019). The gender divide in current day sports coaching. In R. Thewell & M. Dicks (Eds.), Professional Advances in Sports Coaching: Research and Practice. London, UK: Routledge.

LaVoi, N., Baeth, A., & Calhoun, A. S. (2018). Sociological perspectives of women in sport. In N. Lough & A. Guerin (Eds.), Handbook on the Business of Women's Sport. London, UK: Routledge.

Kane, M. J., & LaVoi, N. M. (2018). An examination of athletic administrators' perceptions regarding the absence of female head coaches in women's intercollegiate sports. Women in Sport and Physical Activity.

Hamilton, M. G., & LaVoi, N. M. (2017). Coaches Who Care: The Ethical Professional Identity Development of Moral Exemplar Collegiate Coaches. Journal of Moral Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2017.1313724 .

LaVoi, N.M. (Ed.) (2016). Women in Sports Coaching. London: Routledge.

Butryn, T., LaVoi, N. M., Kauer, K., Semerjian, T., & Waldron, J. (2014). We Walk the Line: An Analysis of the Problems and Possibilities of Work at the Sport Psychology-Sport Sociology Nexus, Sociology of Sport Journal, 31, 162 – 184.

Kane, M.J., LaVoi, N.M., & Fink, J. (2013). Exploring Elite Female Athletes' Interpretations of Sport media Photographs: A Window into the Construction of Social Identity and "Selling Sex" in Women's Sports. Communications and Sport. doi: 10.11772167479512473585

Presentations

Dr. LaVoi speaks to variety of sport stakeholders each year regionally, nationally and internationally.