by Melanie Ross Levin, Outreach Manager,
National Women's Law Center

A new study by the College Sports Council allegedly compares opportunities for men and women to earn athletic scholarships and participate in college sports. But the study contains some major holes (not the least of which is that the "study" consists of three bullet points and charts, with no fuller explanation or analysis). Perhaps most shocking is that the study doesn't include football and conveniently chooses to include only those sports in which both males and females participate. Let me repeat. The study doesn't include the over 25,000 football players and nearly 20,000 scholarships that they receive in Division I. But why stop there? The study goes on to count the numbers of athletic scholarships awarded instead of the total athletic scholarship dollars, the latter of course being the relevant measure to assess compliance with Title IX. And once again, it conveniently leaves out football scholarships. Having been structured to produce the desired result, the study then concludes that women have more scholarship and participation opportunities then men in college sports.

In response to the study, Marcia Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center said, "While there may be larger numbers of female athletes, that doesn't address the issue of whether they're also getting smaller scholarships." And Donna Lopiano, the former CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation called the study “disingenuous.” I agree. Holes in this study are so large that I could throw a football through them. And I didn’t even play football in college. Then again, few women in college do. Exactly my point.

View Original Post at womenstake.org

• Filed Under:  
• SportsPLUS, College, Discrimination/Title IX, Student-Athlete

• Tags:
• Athletics
• education
• Melanie Ross Levin