Women in Intercollegiate Sport

Abstract

Overview of Findings Participation Opportunities for Female Athletes * Nationwide, more college women have more athletic teams available to them than ever before. * 8.32 teams per school is the average offering for female athletes in 2004. The 2004 number of 8.32 is near the 2002 all-time high of 8.34 and far exceeds the 1972 (year Title IX was enacted) number of a little over 2 per school and the 1978 (mandatory compliance date for Title IX) number of 5.61 per school. * Although the 2004 average number of 8.32 teams offered on each campus is slightly lower than the all-time high of 8.34 in 2002, more schools in 2004 offered women's athletics programs. Therefore, in 2004 female collegiate athletes had a total of 8402 teams available to them at the nation's NCAA schools. * In the two-year period of 2002 to 2004, 270 new women's teams were added. In the last four years, 2000-2004, there have been 631 new teams added and in the last six years, a total of 1155 new women's teams have been added. * The ten most frequently found college varsity sports for women are in rank order: basketball, volleyball, cross country, soccer, softball, tennis, track/field, golf, swimming and lacrosse. * Soccer exhibits the greatest growth of any sport in the last 27 years. It is now offered for women on 88.6 % of the campuses while in 1977 it was only found on 2.8% of the campuses. Soccer has increased 40 fold since 1977. Status of Women as Head Coaches * 44.1% of the coaches of women's teams are females, very slightly up from 44.0% in 2002 and down from 45.6% in 2000, which was also down from 47.4 in 1998. 2004's 44.1% is close to the lowest representation of females as head coaches of women's teams in history. * Only 18.8% of all collegiate coaches (of either men's or women's teams) are females. * When Title IX was enacted in 1972, more than 90% of women's teams were coached by women. * In 2004, there are 8402 head coaching jobs of women's NCAA teams. Females hold 3704 of those jobs, an increase of 127 jobs held by females from 2002. However, males have filled more of the new jobs than women. Of the new jobs created since 2002 men filled 143, sixteen more than women obtained. * Even though over half of women's teams are coached by males, very few females serve as head coaches of men's teams. The percentage of females among the coaching ranks of men's athletics remains under 2% as it has been for the last 3 decades. In 2004 17% of colleges have at least one female head coach of a men's teams and 28% have a paid female assistant of a men's team. Most of the teams having women among the coaching ranks are those which typically practice with their female team counterparts such as tennis and swimming. * Female athletes in Division III are the most likely to have a female coach (46%), closely followed by Division I with 44.9%. Among the 10 most popular sports, field hockey and lacrosse teams are the most likely to have a female coach with 96.6% and 86.2% respectively. Softball, at 64.8%, and basketball at 60.7%, follow next. Status of Women as Assistant Coaches * Women hold 57.2% (up from 55.1% in 2002) of the paid assistant coaching jobs within women's NCAA athletics programs. * Women hold 5273 of the 9215 paid assistant coaching jobs in 2004. In 2002 women held 4781 of the 8619 paid assistant coaching jobs for women's teams. The 4781 jobs held in 2004 by females is an increase of 492 jobs held since 2002. In 2004, males hold 3942 paid assistant coaching jobs in women's athletics. So, in 2004 there are more paid assistant coaches for women's teams and a greater percentage of those jobs are held by women. * Women hold 52.9% of the unpaid assistant coaching positions on women's teams (up from 46.4% in 2002. Status of Women as Sports Information Directors * 978 NCAA institutions have full time Sports Information Directors. …