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This study examined the impact of Title IX on media coverage given to female athletes to determine if there has been a shift away from negative social stereotypes traditionally associated with women’s sports participation toward a more socially accepting view of the female athlete. A content analysis of feature articles within 1,228 issues of Sports Illustrated was undertaken for the years 1964-1987. These represented three 8-year time spans before (1964-71), during (1972-79), and after (1980-87) Title IX. In order to assess whether attitudes have changed toward female athletes as related to a Title IX timeline, amount and type of coverage were considered. Chi-square analyses revealed mixed results. There was a significant increase in the proportion of coverage given to women in athletic (e.g., professional golfer) versus nonathletic (e.g., swimsuit model) roles. However, feature articles about female athletes gave significantly more coverage to women in "sex-appropriate" sports such as tennis versus "sex-inappropriate" sports such as rugby, regardless of the Title IX time frame. Results are discussed in terms of challenging current beliefs that women’s athletics have gained widespread social acceptance following the enactment of Tide IX. Implications for practitioners and academics within sport management are presented.

“I want to be respected for what I do instead of what I look like”

—Janie, a swimmer

“They can see the moves I make, the action I make [on the court]. But I also want them to see this is who I am off the court. I’m not just this basketball player. I can be somebody else”

—Melanie, a basketball player

Despite unprecedented gains in women’s sports 40 years after Title IX, female athletes are rarely used in endorsement campaigns and, when used, are presented in sexually provocative poses versus highlighting their athletic competence. This pattern of representation continues, though empirical evidence demonstrates consumers prefer portrayals focusing on sportswomen’s skill versus their sex appeal. Research also indicates females are keenly aware of gendered expectations which create tensions between being athletic and “appropriately feminine.” The current study addresses what we don’t know: how elite female athletes wish to be portrayed if promised the same amount of financial reward and commercial exposure. Thirty-six team and individual scholarship athletes were asked to choose between portrayals of femininity and athletic competence. Findings revealed that competence was the dominant overall choice though close to 30% picked both types of portrayals. Metheny’s gendered sport typology was used to analyze how sportswomen’s preferences challenge, or conform to, traditional ideologies and practices surrounding women’s sports. Implications for sport management scholars and practitioners are discussed.

During the past two decades the number of female athletes has increased while the number of female coaches has declined. The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons why NCAA Division I male and female coaches of women’s athletic teams enter and leave the profession. The findings indicate that coaches enter the profession to remain in competitive athletics and would leave the profession to spend more time with family and friends. Further research in this area is recommended to determine solutions to the problem of the declining number of female coaches.

The present study examined the factors that influence male and female 2-year college coaches of women's teams to select and possibly leave a career in coaching. Of 200 coaches from five athletic conferences in the Mid-Atlantic/New England region, 90 (45%) participated in the study. Two separate MANOVAs were used to analyze each of the two sets of dependent variables (reasons for selecting and reasons for leaving coaching) with the independent variable (gender). Univariate analyses showed that females valued “helping female athletes reach their athletic potential” as a reason for being a coach significantly more than males did. Female coaches also rated significantly higher than males the factors “burden of administrative duties” and “increased intensity in recruiting student-athletes” as reasons to leave the coaching profession.