Gender #'s Not Adding Up at the University of Iowa
From College Athletics Clips, April 27, 2005

From the Hawkeye state comes word of a long overdue reconciliation of gender equity in the UI intercollegiate athletics program. An internal report by UI’s Athletics Merger Review Committee (the men’s and women’s programs were merged in 2000) has drawn on EADA data to conclude that, "The University of Iowa (has) the greatest disparity of the Big Ten Conference schools in athletics participation by each gender as compared with that gender's portion of the student body."

EADA data for 2003—the most recent year available—reveal that UI had 341 male participants (out of a total male student enrollment of 9229) and 283 female participants (out of a total female student enrollment of 11,004). That translates to 1 in 27 participants for males and 1 in 39 for females.

That’s quite a gap. Indeed, it is the widest gap among all Big Ten schools [see chart below].
Not surprisingly, the Merger Review Committee has recommended the imposition of squad limits to promote more equitable gender participation.

This summary was excerpted from a 890 word article from the 4-26-05 issue of the Iowa City Press-Citizen and a 389 word article from the 4-26-05 issue of the Des Moines Register.

By the numbers:
Below are the numbers of male and female student-athletes, with the corresponding male and female student enrollment figures in parenthesis:

University of Iowa
Men: 341 (9,229)
Women: 283 (11,004) participation is about 69% that of men

Purdue University
Men: 268 (17,428)
Women: 189 (12,264) participation is about equal to men

Ohio State University
Men: 500 (17,847)
Women: 415 (15,934) participation is about 95% that of men

University of Illinois
Men: 292 (20,294)
Women: 201 (17,997) participation is about 78% that of men

Indiana University
Men: 341 (13,295)
Women: 275 (14,790) participation is about 72% that of men

University of Michigan
Men: 356 (11,955)
Women: 398 (12,562) participation is about equal to that of men

Michigan State University
Men: 305 (14,349)
Women: 326 (16,766) participation is about 106% that of men

University of Wisconsin
Men: 372 (13,437)
Women: 387 (15,146) participation is about 92% that of men

University of Minnesota
Men: 363 (13,607)
Women: 284 (14,978) participation is about 70% that of men

Northwestern University
Men: 220 (3,750)
Women: 208 (4,221) participation is about 85% that of men

Penn State University
Men: 414 (17,765)
Women: 286 (15,525) participation is about 80% that of men

Source: U.S. Department of Education, 2003 data (most recent available)