Who's Playing College Sports?
By John Cheslock, Ph.D., Women's Sports Foundation

Executive Summary:
The 35th anniversary of Title IX is an excellent time to consider men's and women's participation in intercollegiate athletics. This study provides the most accurate and comprehensive examination of participation trends to date. We analyze data from almost every higher education institution in the country and utilize data and methods that are free of the shortcomings present in previous research on this subject. A 10-year NCAA sample containing 738 NCAA colleges and universities is examined over the 1995-96 to 2004-05 periods. In addition, a complete four-year sample containing, 895 higher education institutions is examined over the 2001-02 to 2004-05 period. The results demonstrate that women continue to be significantly underrepresented among college athletes. At the average higher education institution, the female share of undergraduates is 55.8% while the female share of athletes is 41.7%. Women did enjoy a substantial increase in participation opportunities in the late 1990s, but this progress slowed considerably in the early 2000s. In fact, the increase in women's participation levels was roughly equal to the increase in men's participation levels between 2001-02 and 2004-05. Progress towards more equitable participation numbers for men and women has stalled.

Debates over Title IX have focused more on maintaining the numerous athletic opportunities that men have historically enjoyed rather than ensuring that women gain access to the opportunities they have been historically denied. In other words, the significant underrepresentation of women among college athletes often receives relatively little attention. Instead, the debate focuses on whether or not men have maintained their high participation levels, and many claim that men's athletic participation has seriously declined over time. The results of this study clearly refute this claim and instead indicate small overall increases in men's participation in intercollegiate athletics. Men's participation levels grew slightly between 1995-96 and 2001-02, a period containing the Cohen vs. Brown decision that encouraged colleges and universities to take Title IX more seriously. Furthermore, men's participation levels continued to increase between 2001-02 and 2004-05, a moment of tough financial times for many higher education institutions.

This report demonstrates the importance of providing a complete portrait of participation trends. Examination of specific sports or sets of institutions can produce misleading results. For example, participation in men's wrestling and tennis declined substantially over time, but other men's sports (football, baseball, lacrosse and soccer) experienced much larger gains. While it is true that men's participation levels fell slightly among Division I-A institutions, no other set of institutions experienced declines and many saw their men's participation levels increase.

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