Are women discriminated against in college athletics?

A new report out from the Women’s Sports Federation shows that women are significantly underrepresented in college athletics. The report claims that women made gains in participation during the 1990’s but that the gains have slowly during the past 7 years. The report even provides a report card evaluating colleges on the gap they have between men and women athletes.

If you are a prospective female athlete, you might be able to use the report card to help find colleges where your skills might be desired and where you may have an increased chance of admittance. For instance, a college that gets a poor score on the report card may be inclined to increase the number of female athletes in its programs to better comply with any claims of discrimination under Title IX. This may make admission to such colleges easier for women athletes for a period of time. Of course you should also consider whether the culture of that college’s athletic programs are in fact biased against women which might have an effect on your enjoyment of attending that college.

As I have noted on many occasions, there are many factors to consider in choosing the right college and this is just one more factor that the student athlete needs to consider.