Quick Takes

Published: August 2011

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Title IX

"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."¹

• Despite common beliefs, Title IX applies not only to athletics, but to all aspects of federally funded educational programs, including access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment, standardized testing, and technology.²
• Before Title IX, only 1 in 27 girls played high school sports.³
• Despite the success of Title IX, athletic programs are still not equitable.
  • Each year, female athletes at NCAA member colleges receive $136 million less than male athletes. ⁴
  • Women in Division I colleges are over 50% of the student body, yet receive only 32% of the athletic recruiting dollars, and only 37% of total money spent on athletics. ⁵
  • In 2008, only 43% of coaches of women’s teams were women; in 1972, over 90% of coaches of women’s teams were women.⁶

Benefits of Athletics for a Future in Business

• In one survey, 82% of women executives played organized sports after elementary school.⁷
• Playing organized sports helps create better businesswomen. Executive women believed that sports helped women in a variety of ways, including: ⁸
  • 59% of the participants thought sports gave them a competitive edge over others in the business world; ⁹
  • 86% of the women felt sports helped them to become more disciplined; ¹⁰
  • 81% felt participating in sports helped them function better as team players in the workplace; ¹¹
  • 69% of the women felt sports helped them develop leadership skills; and¹²
  • 68% of the women believed their past in sports helped them to deal with failure. ¹³

Gender Equity and Gender Inequity in Professional Sports

• It wasn’t until 2007 that the Wimbledon tennis tournament had equal prize purses for women and men athletes.¹⁴
• The total prize money for the (men’s) PGA tour is $256 million. This is over five times more than the total prize money for the (women’s) LPGA tour. ¹⁵
• The minimum salary for the 2005 season of the WBNA was $31,200. The minimum salary for the 2004-2005 season of the NBA was $385,277. ¹⁶
• The maximum salary for the WNBA was $89,000, versus the maximum salary of $15.355 million for the NBA. ¹⁷
• Each player on the 2003 Women’s World Cup Team received $25,000 for placing third place; after the men’s national soccer team reached the quarterfinal of the 2002 World Cup, each player received $200,000 each. ¹⁸

Women in Sports Management, Ownership, and Coaching

• In Major League Baseball (MLB),
  • Pam Gardener is the only woman CEO/President in MLB,¹⁹
  • 38% of staff in MLB Central Office are women. ²⁰
  • Just 18.2% of team vice-presidents are women, ²¹
  • There were no women head trainers,²²
• In the 2009-2010 season, in the National Basketball Association:
  • Women held 44% of professional positions in the NBA League Office,²³
  • Just 1 referee out of 60 was a woman, ²⁴
  • Women were just 18% of team vice-presidents, the same as the three prior years, ²⁵
  • There were no women head athletic trainers.²⁶
• In Major League Soccer (MLS),
  • 36% of the MLS League Office staff were women,²⁷
  • Women held 16% of senior administrative positions, and just 29% of team professional positions. ²⁸
  • There are no women general managers. ²⁹
• In the National Football League (NFL),
  • 17% of senior administrator positions were held by women,³⁰
  • 27.5% of management positions were held by women, compared to 52.1% of all support staff positions, ³¹
  • Amy Trask continues to be the only woman president/CEO in the NFL. ³²
• The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) continues to have the best record in professional sports, in regards to gender and race.³³
• In 2010, in the WNBA:
  • 58% of head coaches were women, ³⁴
  • 65% of senior administrators were women, ³⁵
  • 54% of professional administrators were women, ³⁶
  • 53% of head athletic trainers were women, ³⁷ and
  • 40% of CEOs/presidents were women. ³⁸

Sources

¹ U.S. Department of Labor, "Title IX: Education Amendments of 1972."

² Title IX, "Fact or Myth? Title IX is only about athletics."

³ IExercise My Rights, "Athletics."

⁴ IExercise My Rights, "Athletics."

⁵ IExercise My Rights, "Athletics."

⁶ IExercise My Rights, "Athletics."

⁷ MassMutual Financial Group, Successful Women Business Executives Don’t Just Talk a Good Game...They Play(ed) One (2002).

⁸ MassMutual Financial Group, Successful Women Business Executives Don’t Just Talk a Good Game...They Play(ed) One (2002).

⁹ MassMutual Financial Group, Successful Women Business Executives Don’t Just Talk a Good Game...They Play(ed) One (2002).

¹⁰ MassMutual Financial Group, Successful Women Business Executives Don’t Just Talk a Good Game...They Play(ed) One (2002).

¹¹ MassMutual Financial Group, Successful Women Business Executives Don’t Just Talk a Good Game...They Play(ed) One (2002).

¹² MassMutual Financial Group, Successful Women Business Executives Don’t Just Talk a Good Game...They Play(ed) One (2002).

¹³ MassMutual Financial Group, Successful Women Business Executives Don’t Just Talk a Good Game...They Play(ed) One (2002).

¹⁴ Women Sports Foundation, "Equity Issues: Pay Inequity in Athletics" (2011).

¹⁵ Women Sports Foundation, "Equity Issues: Pay Inequity in Athletics" (2011).

¹⁶ Women Sports Foundation, "Equity Issues: Pay Inequity in Athletics" (2011).

¹⁷ Women Sports Foundation, "Equity Issues: Pay Inequity in Athletics" (2011).

¹⁸ Women Sports Foundation, "Equity Issues: Pay Inequity in Athletics" (2011).

¹⁹ Richard Lapchick, The 2011 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Baseball (2011).

²⁰ Richard Lapchick, The 2011 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Baseball (2011).

²¹ Richard Lapchick, The 2011 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Baseball (2011).

²² Richard Lapchick, The 2011 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Baseball (2011).

²³ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Basketball Association (2010).

²⁴ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Basketball Association (2010).

²⁵ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Basketball Association (2010).

²⁶ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Basketball Association (2010).

²⁷ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Soccer (2010).

²⁸ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Soccer (2010).

²⁹ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Soccer (2010).

³⁰ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Football League (2010).

³¹ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Football League (2010).

³² Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Football League (2010).

³³ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Women’s National Basketball Association (2010).

³⁴ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Women’s National Basketball Association (2010).

³⁵ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Women’s National Basketball Association (2010).

³⁶ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Women’s National Basketball Association (2010).

³⁷ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Women’s National Basketball Association (2010).

³⁸ Richard Lapchick, The 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card: Women’s National Basketball Association (2010).

UPDATED August 2, 2011