Understanding institutional investment in women’s collegiate athletic programs

This study explores factors with potential implications on institutional-level spending on women’s collegiate athletics. It looks at the history of women in higher education, Title IX and its impacts, and the evolution of women and sport post-Title IX. For generations, women have fought for equitable opportunities and treatment, including equal access to sport. Feminist theory elucidates the motivations behind these efforts and is employed as a foundation upon which to view historic and modern-day disparities in the support and financial backing of men’s versus women’s collegiate athletics. Publicly available data from a variety of higher education and collegiate athletics sources are used. This study employs a fixed effects panel regression to assess financial and non-financial factors that may relate to an institution’s relative investment in its female athletes. Regression results indicate female representation in certain leadership positions and a proportional increase in institutional gifts received are positively correlated with gender funding equity at the institution-level and sport-level, respectively. Proportional increases in institutional subsidies and student fees have a positive relationship with program-level spend on women’s basketball players. Proportional spend on facilities and equipment is negatively correlated with gender funding equity at the sport-level as is, surprisingly, the sex of the women’s basketball coach. Findings suggest that 50 years post-Title IX, women are allowed equal participation in college athletics but athletic department spend by athlete sex remains inequitable.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Jacobs, Angela Carpenter

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hinze-Pifer, Rebecca
• Delaney, Jennifer A
• Baber, Lorenzo
• Kearney, Tyler

• College Athletics Funding
• Title Ix
• Women’s Collegiate Athletics
• Gender Equity
• Feminist Theory

Statement dc:rights

• Copywrite 2024 Angela Carpenter Jacobs

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127212

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F127212