A new study by reporters at USA Today finds that a half-century after the passage of Title IX calling for equality in higher education, including collegiate athletics, colleges and universities are manipulating their figures on team rosters in order to present an image of equality when in fact it does not exist.
The report found that colleges and universities are padding the rosters of women’s sports teams by including athletes who do not compete and counting male practice players as members of women’s sports teams. Schools were found to have counted all of the women on the rosters of their spring track and field teams as members of their indoor track and field teams when many of the women did not compete indoors.
The study found that at one major university 29 athletes on the 43-player women’s basketball roster were actually men who signed up to practice with the team. Another large state university claimed to have 165 athletes on its women’s rowing roster even though more than a third of them never raced for the school. At least 838 female rowers nationwide – more than one-third of all female rowers counted – filled unnecessary roster spots.
The report also found that universities that did not field indoor track teams, still sponsored and sent many male athletes to competitions, but did not include them on roster counts.