The growth of esports has led to the rapid development of intercollegiate esports programs in the United States. This study explored the connection between resources allocated to intercollegiate esports programs and gender equity. Gender equity is a known issue in the esports community at all levels, including intercollegiate competitions. For higher education institutions, it is important to understand and address gender equity issues because colleges and universities must be able to prove compliance with Title IX, the federal requirement that individuals have equal access and opportunities to participate in activities, including sports, and are not discriminated against based on their gender. This study utilized an exploratory, descriptive survey to collect cross-sectional data from forty-nine higher education institutions. An analysis of these resource allocation and gender equity data revealed common themes among institutions that recruited women to participate in their teams. Using the analytic tool of pattern matching, the study then compared these findings to a literature-derived best-practice model of resource allocation and to Title IX’s Three-Part Test for gender equity. The former comparison identified opportunities for universities to further promote gender equity in esports via changes in resource allocation. The latter comparison indicated how institutions may risk noncompliance with Title IX. In short, the study illustrated how lack of institutional governance, data transparency, and efforts to provide multiple paths to participate in intercollegiate esports make colleges and universities vulnerable to noncompliance with Title IX. It further illustrated how compliance with Title IX may be enhanced by utilizing different patterns of resource allocation.
","abstract_html":"<p>The growth of esports has led to the rapid development of intercollegiate esports programs in the United States. This study explored the connection between resources allocated to intercollegiate esports programs and gender equity. Gender equity is a known issue in the esports community at all levels, including intercollegiate competitions. For higher education institutions, it is important to understand and address gender equity issues because colleges and universities must be able to prove compliance with Title IX, the federal requirement that individuals have equal access and opportunities to participate in activities, including sports, and are not discriminated against based on their gender. This study utilized an exploratory, descriptive survey to collect cross-sectional data from forty-nine higher education institutions. An analysis of these resource allocation and gender equity data revealed common themes among institutions that recruited women to participate in their teams. Using the analytic tool of pattern matching, the study then compared these findings to a literature-derived best-practice model of resource allocation and to Title IX’s Three-Part Test for gender equity. The former comparison identified opportunities for universities to further promote gender equity in esports via changes in resource allocation. The latter comparison indicated how institutions may risk noncompliance with Title IX. In short, the study illustrated how lack of institutional governance, data transparency, and efforts to provide multiple paths to participate in intercollegiate esports make colleges and universities vulnerable to noncompliance with Title IX. It further illustrated how compliance with Title IX may be enhanced by utilizing different patterns of resource allocation.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Takemoto, Stephanie Keiko"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Education, PhD","degree_level":"Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation","degree_discipline":"School of Educational Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["DeLacy Ganley","Thomas Luschei"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:41:09Z","subjects":["esports","intercollegiate esports","Education","Higher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/972","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["DeLacy Ganley","Thomas Luschei"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Takemoto, Stephanie Keiko"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-13T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Educational Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Education, PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["esports","intercollegiate esports","Education","Higher Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/972"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The growth of esports has led to the rapid development of intercollegiate esports programs in the United States. This study explored the connection between resources allocated to intercollegiate esports programs and gender equity. Gender equity is a known issue in the esports community at all levels, including intercollegiate competitions. For higher education institutions, it is important to understand and address gender equity issues because colleges and universities must be able to prove compliance with Title IX, the federal requirement that individuals have equal access and opportunities to participate in activities, including sports, and are not discriminated against based on their gender. This study utilized an exploratory, descriptive survey to collect cross-sectional data from forty-nine higher education institutions. An analysis of these resource allocation and gender equity data revealed common themes among institutions that recruited women to participate in their teams. Using the analytic tool of pattern matching, the study then compared these findings to a literature-derived best-practice model of resource allocation and to Title IX’s Three-Part Test for gender equity. The former comparison identified opportunities for universities to further promote gender equity in esports via changes in resource allocation. The latter comparison indicated how institutions may risk noncompliance with Title IX. In short, the study illustrated how lack of institutional governance, data transparency, and efforts to provide multiple paths to participate in intercollegiate esports make colleges and universities vulnerable to noncompliance with Title IX. It further illustrated how compliance with Title IX may be enhanced by utilizing different patterns of resource allocation.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Resource Allocation and Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Esports"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["DeLacy Ganley","Thomas Luschei"],"dc:creator":["Takemoto, Stephanie Keiko"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-13T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The growth of esports has led to the rapid development of intercollegiate esports programs in the United States. This study explored the connection between resources allocated to intercollegiate esports programs and gender equity. Gender equity is a known issue in the esports community at all levels, including intercollegiate competitions. For higher education institutions, it is important to understand and address gender equity issues because colleges and universities must be able to prove compliance with Title IX, the federal requirement that individuals have equal access and opportunities to participate in activities, including sports, and are not discriminated against based on their gender. This study utilized an exploratory, descriptive survey to collect cross-sectional data from forty-nine higher education institutions. An analysis of these resource allocation and gender equity data revealed common themes among institutions that recruited women to participate in their teams. Using the analytic tool of pattern matching, the study then compared these findings to a literature-derived best-practice model of resource allocation and to Title IX’s Three-Part Test for gender equity. The former comparison identified opportunities for universities to further promote gender equity in esports via changes in resource allocation. The latter comparison indicated how institutions may risk noncompliance with Title IX. In short, the study illustrated how lack of institutional governance, data transparency, and efforts to provide multiple paths to participate in intercollegiate esports make colleges and universities vulnerable to noncompliance with Title IX. It further illustrated how compliance with Title IX may be enhanced by utilizing different patterns of resource allocation.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/972"],"dc:subject":["esports","intercollegiate esports","Education","Higher Education"],"dc:title":["Resource Allocation and Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Esports"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Educational Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Education, PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:41:09Z"}