Minority hiring on rise in MLB, study finds

A diversity report released Thursday on Major League Baseball finds the sport is showing improvement with its racial and hiring gender practices, particularly at the league’s central office.

The report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at Central Florida finds a “significant” increase in racial hiring practices and a “slight” increase in gender hiring.

The grade for racial hiring was a B-plus with 88 points, up six points from a year earlier. The grade for gender hiring was a C with 71 points, up one point.

The combined score of 79, with a grade of C-plus/B-minus, was up three points.

“In overall score, it’s trending well,” said Richard Lapchick, the institute’s director and the lead report author. “But I think when we look at gender, if you had a child that in high school came home with a C, you’d probably talk to them about raising that grade. You’d be happy with a Bplus, but you probably wouldn’t be as happy with a C.

“So trending well means there’s still a substantial way to go, particularly in gender hiring practices.”

The report examined data collected by the MLB central office and sent to the TIDES research team, which examined data as of Dec. 31 and then updated listings of owners, general managers and managers as of April 1.

It comes days after MLB said the percentage of black players from the U.S. and Canada on opening day active rosters rose to 8.4 per cent, its highest level since at least 2012. The increase was attributed at least partly to efforts to increase baseball youth participation with programs that include Urban Youth Academies and Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities.

The TIDES report highlighted league headquarters in New York City, which received an Aplus for racial hiring (up from Aminus) and a C for gender hiring (up from a C-minus).