GENDER

EQUALITY IN
ATHLETICS
Lacie Jacobson
 The Issues
Challenges that female athletes face:
• Gender Stereotypes
• Gender “Norms”
• Media Coverage
• Funding and Value

Image from janettv.com

“Athletics have long provided valuable socio-cultural learning experiences for men and boys, but
calls for equal treatment of women and girls in sports are a relatively recent development, and
women’s athletic programs remain underfunded and undervalued.” (LiveWell Colorado).
Share of High Schools with Large Gender Equity Gaps in Sports
What Inequality?
“Nearly 4,500 public high-schools across the United
States have large gender inequality in sports and could
be in violation of Title IX, according to a new National
Women’s Law Center analysis of 2011-12 Department
of Education data. These campuses account for well
over a fourth—28 percent—of the country’s public high
schools” (Wong).

There are schools that will not even put together a

Girl’s team for some sports. This was the case for
Emma Hastie; her school refused to create a Girl’s Golf
team. In her article, she also interviews other students
that talk about how the Boy’s teams get more funding
Image from TheAtlantic.com
for equipment and school recognition (Hastie).
 What Inequality?
Statistics have proven that women in sports are generally ignored and are given very little
importance when it comes to media coverage.
Although approximately 40% of sport and physical activity participants are women, women’s sports
receive only 4% of all sports media coverage, according to the statistics introduced by the Tucker
Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport.
In a study of four major newspapers (USA Today, the Boston Globe, the Orange County Register and
the Dallas Morning news) women-only sports stories totaled just 3.5% of all sports stories.

Information from women-s.net

 Benefits
Benefits of Girls Playing Sports:
• High school girls who play sports get better grades, are
more likely to graduate, and are less likely to have an
unwanted pregnancy.
• Females athletes have higher levels of confidence and
self-esteem and lower levels of depression.
• Women and girls who play sports have a more positive
body image and experience higher states of
psychological well-being.
• 80% of the female executives at Fortune 500
companies grew up playing sports. Image from usnews.com

Information from livewellcolorado.org

 Making Progress
“Sport and physical activities were recognized as a
human right in the International Charter of Physical
Education and Sport, and adopted in 1978 by
UNESCO” (women-s.net).
– This did not outlaw gender discrimination in sports,
meaning that women still have fewer opportunities to
play sports and are paid less than men.

Title IX prohibits discrimination against girls and

women in federally-funded athletic programs; it was Image from drew.edu
passed in 1972 (ncaa.org).

What is Title IX?
Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of
1972 is a federal law that states:
"No person in the United States shall, on the
basis of sex, be excluded from participation in,
be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any education program or
activity receiving Federal financial assistance.“
Information from ncaa.org
Title IX
Who does Title IX apply to?
Title IX applies to all educational institutions,
both public and private, that receive federal
funds. Almost all private colleges and universities
must abide by Title IX regulations because they
receive federal funding through federal financial
aid programs used by their students.
Image from womenssportsfoundation.org
 Title IX
How is Title IX applied to athletics?
There are three basic parts of Title IX as it applies to athletics:
Participation: Title IX requires that women and men be provided equitable opportunities to
participate in sports. Title IX does not require institutions to offer identical sports but an equal
opportunity to play.
Scholarships: Title IX requires that female and male student-athletes receive athletics scholarship
dollars proportional to their participation.
Other benefits: Title IX requires the equal treatment of female and male student-athletes in the
provisions of: (a) equipment and supplies; (b) scheduling of games and practice times; (c) travel and
daily allowance/per diem; (d) access to tutoring; (e) coaching; (f) locker rooms, practice and
competitive facilities; (g) medical and training facilities and services; (h) housing and dining facilities
and services; (i) publicity and promotions; (j) support services and (k) recruitment of student-
athletes.

Information from ncaa.org

 Title IX
What is it missing?
• Title IX does not require that equal dollars be spent on men and women’s sports (ncaa.org).
• Title IX does not require identical athletics programs for males and females (ncaa.org).

Why does it matter?

“The US Women’s Sports Foundation reports that male athletes are receiving some $180 million
more annually in athletic scholarship grants than female athletes do. On top of that are colleges
spending only 24 percent their total athletic operations budgets on female sports activities.
Additionally, the college and universities spend only 16 percent of their recruiting budgets and just
over 30 percent of their scholarship and grant budgets on female athletics”(Jane).
 Fight for Equality
“It all boils down to the fact that we, women and men collectively, must intensify our efforts when it
comes to gender (in)equality. We must pave the ways for our children equally be it for our sons or
our daughters. There is no room for disparity or inequality in the world of sports, the world of our
workplace, or in our lives. Women should be regarded as, treated as, and respected in the same way
as men. Gender should never lead to a separation between fellow athletes” (Jane).

“We must do a better job of supporting women and girls in sport and reinforcing their roles as
athletes. How important is it that our daughters learn the same rules as our sons? It’s critical. We
need to get them involved, and keep them playing” (LiveWell Colorado).
 Take Action
Petitions
Support the change for equal advertisement for female athletes:
Click here.

Support the change for equal pay and treatment for female soccer players:
Click here.

Create your own petition to help female athletes:

Click here.
 Utah Girls’ Tackle Football League
Non-Profit Youth Sports League
Founded in 2015
This league is for any girls between 4th – 12th grade.
This league made history by holding the first ever Girls’
High School (11 on 11) Championship Game AND the
first ever Girls’ Middle School (11 on 11) Championship
Game.

Interested in playing? Learn more information at

utahgirlstacklefootball.com
 References
Ashley, Jane. “Gender Inequality in Sports.” Gender Stats, 3 Oct. 2018,
www.genderstats.org/2018/08/03/gender-inequality-in-sports/.
“Gender Discrimination in Sports: Statistics & Examples.” Women's, 26 Feb. 2018, www.women-
s.net/gender-discrimination-in-sports/.
Hastie, Emma. “Gender Inequality Persists in High School Sports.” Athletic Business, 9 Nov. 2017,
www.athleticbusiness.com/high-school/gender-inequality-persists-in-high-school-sports.html.
“The Importance of Equality in Sports for Women and Girls.” LiveWell Colorado, 21 Jan. 2016,
www.livewellcolorado.org/about/whats-new/livewell-blog/the-importance-of-equality-in-sports-for-
women-and-girls/.
“Title IX Frequently Asked Questions.” NCAA.org -The Official Site of the NCAA, 27 Jan. 2014,
www.ncaa.org/about/resources/inclusion/title-ix-frequently-asked-questions.
Wong, Alia. “Thousands of America's High Schools Have Far Fewer Sports Opportunities for Girls Than for
Boys.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 26 June 2015,
www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/girls-high-school-sports-inequality/396782/.