The Collective Think Tank has released “Women in NCAA Intercollegiate Athletics: The Legacy Revisited,” the latest addition of a landmark study tracking the progress and challenges facing women athletes and coaches at colleges and universities. First launched in 1977 by Brooklyn College professors Vivian Acosta and Linda Carpenter, the study has measured gender equity in intercollegiate sports for decades.
The report draws from federal information and NCAA participation data on over 1,000 schools across all three NCAA divisions. In their analysis, the authors found women have accounted for some 43 percent of all NCAA varsity athletes since the 1990s — far below their 55 percent representation among undergraduate students overall.
In 2024, women were 46 percent of coaches for women’s collegiate sports teams. Women have not represented the majority of women’s teams’ coaches since the 1980s. Representation among men’s teams’ coaches is virtually nonexistent, with women representing just 6 out of every 100 coaches for men’s teams. However, women are nearly two-thirds of full-time assistant coaches, suggesting there is a strong pipeline for women coaches at the entry and mid-career levels.
“This research is vital because it shows where progress has been made and where intentional action is still needed to achieve equity in women’s collegiate athletics,” said co-author Martha McGrath-Brown, assistant professor of sports management at Westminster College in Pennsylvania. “My colleagues and I had hoped to see more positive momentum, especially given the surge in popularity of women’s sports in recent years. Unfortunately, that visibility hasn’t yet translated into greater participation or closed the coaching gap. I believe equity is achievable, but it will require a collective effort from everyone — men and women alike — to do the work needed to get there.”
In addition to Dr. McGrath-Brown, the study authors include Jacqueline McDowell, associate professor of sport management at George Mason University in Virginia; Barbara Osborne, professor of sport administration and law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Shannon Kerwin, professor of sport management at Brock University in Ontario; and Janelle E. Wells, associate professor of sport and entertainment management at the University of South Florida.