Title IX Athletic Statistics
Participation:
- In the 2007-2008 school year, girls made up 49% of the high school population, but females only accounted for 41% of the participants in athletics. (Lakowski, T. & Lerner, P. (2009). Play Fair: A Title IX Playbook for Victory. Women’s Sports Foundation.)
- While women made up 54% of all undergraduate students during the 2005-2006 school year, the female share of athletes was only 45%. (Lakowski, T. & Lerner, P. (2009). Play Fair: A Title IX Playbook for Victory. Women’s Sports Foundation.)
- Female athletic participation is still increasing, but the rate of growth is slowing. 26,000 more women participated in college athletics in 2005 than in 1995. However, only 15% of this increase took place between 2001 and 2005. (Cheslock, J. (2007). Who’s Playing College Sports? Trends in Participation. Women’s Sports Foundation.)
- Women’s soccer has consistently shown the strongest growth pattern within all divisions of the NCAA. In 2006, it was the third most popular sport overall. (Carpenter, L.J. & Acosta, R.V. (2006). "Women in Intercollegiate Report: A Longitudinal, National Study, 1977-2006.")
- Female college athletes receive only 35% of total athletic expenditures in the 2004-2005 school year. (Cheslock, J. (2007). Who’s Playing College Sports? Trends in Participation. Women’s Sports Foundation.)
- Female NCAA athletes receive only 45% of college athletic scholarship dollars, which is $166 million less in scholarships than male college athletes. (2007-2008 Participation Survey, National Federation of State High School Associations)
| High School Athletes | |||
| Year | 1971-72 | 2007-08 | Increase |
| Female | 294,015 | 3,057,266 | 940% |
| Male | 3,666,917 | 4,372,115 | 19% |
Source: Women's Sports Foundation. Play Fair: A Title IX Playbook for Victory
| NCAA Varsity Athletes | |||
| Year | 1971-72 | 2004-05 | Increase |
| Female | 29,972 | 166,728 | 456% |
| Male | 170,384 | 222,838 | 31% |
Source: ncwge.org
| Disparities in Funding Intercollegiate Athletics for 2005-2006 | ||||||
| | Division I | Division II | Division III | |||
| Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | |
| Scholarships | $2,192,500 | $1,809,500 | $630,700 | $477,800 | N/A | N/A |
| Recruiting | 247,300 | 115,900 | 25,000 | 13,800 | 18,400 | 9,800 |
Source: NCAA Gender Equity Survey 2005-2006
Health Benefits of increased physical activity and participation opportunities:
- Physical activity can reduce a woman’s weight and risk of developing cancer and other diseases. (National Women’s Law Center. Keeping Score: Girls’ Participation in High School Athletics in Massachusetts. 2004.)
- Girls who participate in some kind of sport experience higher than average levels of self-esteem and lower levels of depression. (Colton, M. & Gore, S. (1991). “Risk, Resiliency, and Resistance: Current Research on Adolescent Girls.” Ms. Foundation for Women.)
- Sports participation is associated with reduced rates of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. (Tiggemann, M. (2001). “The impact of adolescent girls’ life concerns and leisure activities on body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and self-esteem.” The Journal of Genetic Psychology.)
Behavioral benefits of increased physical activity and participation opportunities:
- Athletic participation can teach valuable life skills that will be useful later in life. Women will learn to collaborate with others, dedication, and perseverance. (National Women’s Law Center. Keeping Score: Girls’ Participation in High School Athletics in Massachusetts. 2004.)
- Female athletes have better grades and higher graduation rates than non-athlete females. In high school, athletic participation can lead to college scholarships. (National Women’s Law Center. Keeping Score: Girls’ Participation in High School Athletics in Massachusetts. 2004.)
- 71% of the female students who entered NCAA Division I programs on athletic scholarship in 1998 graduated within six years of enrollment, as compared to 63% for female students overall. (2005 Graduation-Rates Report for NCAA Division I Schools. NCAA, 2005.)
- Young women who participated in sports were more likely to be engaged in volunteering, be registered to vote, feel comfortable making a public statement, follow the news, and boycott than young women who had not participated in sports. (Lopez, M.H. & Moore, K. (2006). Participation in Sports and Civic Engagement. The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.)
- Teenage female athletes are less likely to illicit drugs, less likely to be suicidal, less likely to smoke and more likely to have positive body images than female non-athletes. (Miller, K, Sabo, D.F., Melnick, M.J., Farrell, M.P. Barnes, G.M. (2000). The Women’s Sports Foundation Report: Health Risks and the Teen Athlete. Women’s Sports Foundation.)
- Team sports participation is associated with a lower prevalence of sexual risk-taking behaviors for young women. (Kulig, K., Brener, N. & McManus, T. (2003). “Sexual activity and substance use among adolescents by category of physical activity plus team sport participation.” Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.)
- Female athletes are less than half as likely to get pregnant as female non-athletes (5% and 11%, respectively), more likely to report that they had never had sexual intercourse than female non-athletes (54% and 41%, respectively), and more likely to experience their first sexual intercourse later in adolescence than female non-athletes. (1998). The Women’s Sports Foundation Report: Sport and Teen Pregnancy. Women’s Sports Foundation.)
Coaches:
- In 2006 only 42.4% of women’s teams (and less than 2% of men’s teams) were led by a female head coach — the lowest level of representation ever, down from more than 90% when Title IX was enacted. (Acosta, R.V. Carpenter, L.J. (2006). “Women in Intercollegiate Sport: A Longitudinal Study – Twenty-Nine Year Update, 1977-2006.” Unpublished manuscript.)
- In the 2005-2006 season, the average salary for a Division I men’s basketball head coach was $409,600 — more than double the average salary of a women’s basketball coach, which amounted to only $187,300. Average school spending for female head coaches were $659,000, while the average for men’s was $1,202,400. (NCAA Gender Equity Survey 2005-2006.)
- In 2005-2006, the average school spending for a women head coach for a Division II school is $212,000 compared to a male’s $237, 400. (NCAA Gender Equity Survey 2005-2006.)
- In 2005-2006, the average school spending for a women head coach for a Division III school is $176,400 while the average for men is $204,600.
- In 2007, three (18.8%) of the 16 NCAA Executive Committee members are women. In 2001, 26.7% of senior-level positions at the NCAA headquarters were filled by women. Seven (30.4%) out of 23 association-wide committees were chaired by women. (NCAA, 2007; USA Today, Sept. 27, 2001.)
- In 2006. only 18.6% of athletic directors of women’s programs within all divisions of the NCAA were female, compared to 90% in 1972. (Acosta, R.V. & Carpenter, L.J. (2006). “Women in Intercollegiate Sport: A Longitudinal Study - Twenty-Nine Year Update, 1977-2006.” Unpublished manuscript.)
| Collegiate Sports Positions by Gender in 2006 | ||
| | Men | Women |
| Athletic Directors | 81.4% | 18.6% |
| Head Coaches of Women’s Teams | 57.6% | 42.4% |
| Head Coaches of Men’s and Women's Teams | 82.3% | 17.7% |
| Full-Time Athletic Trainers | 72.6% | 27.4% |
| Full-Time Sports Information Directors | 87.9% | 12.1% |
Source: Acosta and Carpenter. Women in Intercollegiate Sport, 2006