As Girls Become Women, Sports Pay Dividends
By TARA PARKER-POPE Published: February 15, 2010
Almost four decades after the federal education law called Title IX opened the door for girls to participate in high school and college athletics, a crucial question has remained unanswered: Do sports make a long-term difference in a woman’s life?
A large body of research shows that sports are associated with all sorts of benefits, like lower teenage pregnancy rates, better grades and higher self-esteem. But until now, no one has determined whether those improvements are a direct result of athletic participation. It may be that the type of girl who is attracted to sports already has the social, personal and physical qualities — like ambition, strength and supportive parents — that will help her succeed in life.
Now, separate studies from two economists offer some answers, providing the strongest evidence yet that team sports can result in lifelong improvements to educational, work and health prospects. At a time when the first lady, Michelle Obama, has begun a nationwide campaign to improve schoolchildren’s health, the lessons from Title IX show that school-based fitness efforts can have lasting effects.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 required schools and colleges receiving federal money to provide the same opportunities for girls as they did for boys. Relatively few students, male or female, participate in intercollegiate sports. But the effects in high school were remarkable. Just six years after the enactment of Title IX, the percentage of girls playing team sports had jumped sixfold, to 25 percent from about 4 percent.
Most research on Title IX has looked at national trends in girls’ sports. Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has taken it a step further, focusing on state-by-state variations.
“I looked to see what it means to add sports to girls’ lives,” she said. “How does it change things for them?”
States with large boys’ sports programs had to make bigger changes to achieve parity than states with smaller programs. Looking at the state-by-state statistics allowed Dr. Stevenson to narrow her focus, comparing differences in sports participation with differences in women’s educational and work achievement.
So her study untangles the effects of sports participation from other confounding factors — school size, climate, social and personal differences among athletes — and comes far closer to determining a cause and effect relationship between high school sports participation and achievement later in life.
Using a complex analysis, Dr. Stevenson showed that increasing girls’ sports participation had a direct effect on women’s education and employment. She found that the changes set in motion by Title IX explained about 20 percent of the increase in women’s education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women.
“It’s not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life,” she said, adding, “While I only show this for girls, it’s reasonable to believe it’s true for boys as well.”
Another question is whether Title IX has made a difference in women’s long-term health. In a carefully conducted study, Robert Kaestner, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, compared rates of obesity and physical activity of women who had been in high school in the 1970s — as Title IX was taking effect — with similar women from earlier years. Controlling the results for other influences, like age and changing diets, Dr. Kaestner was able to tease out the effects Title IX had on women’s health.
He found that the increase in girls’ athletic participation caused by Title IX was associated with a 7 percent lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later, when women were in their late 30s and early 40s. His article was published this month in the journal Evaluation Review.
Dr. Kaestner notes that while a 7 percent decline in obesity is modest, no other public health program can claim similar success. And other studies have shown that even a small drop in weight can lower risk for diabetes and other health problems.
There is still room for improvement. Today about 1 in 3 high school girls play sports, compared with about half of all boys. And participation varies widely by state, according to Dr. Stevenson’s research. Southern states like Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee still have big gender gaps, while Northern states like Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont are closer to parity.
“While we have more girls than ever before, we still have far more boys playing sports than girls,” said Nicole M. LaVoi, associate director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota. “The research clearly states that when anybody, boys and girls, are physically active, they can reap developmental and health benefits. But we haven’t reached equality yet.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/health/16well.html?ref=todayspaper
WISE Attendee Testimonials
From: Batte, Carol
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 2:59 PM
To: Beth Schnitzer
Subject: Press Release on AAcom/women
PRNewswire-FirstCall: Responding to requests from women travelers, American Airlines today unveiled a fresh look to AA.com/women, the airline industry's first online resource specifically designed for millions of female travelers. AA.com/women specializes in featuring articles about business, family, girlfriend getaways, and more. It has unique offers, destination content, and quick links to travel tips, weather updates, and flight information. The site - though certainly not exclusive to women -also hosts online discussion forums where stories and advice can be swapped within the women's travel community. The site enhancements also include travel destination videos (London, Shanghai, and St. John U.S. Virgin Islands), new destination content, and - exclusive to AA.com/women readers - gifts and insider tips from travel expert Paula Conway, who exclusively produces "Conway Confidential" information about international and domestic destinations just for American's customers. Conway Confidential is only available to American's AA.com/women readers; no other airline carries this content. Conway Confidential travel experts focus on those unique opportunities to turn an ordinary trip something special and memorable. Conway Confidential also includes the "Secret Spots & Hidden Gems" exclusive destination video segment, which features select cities around the world and is hosted by Conway. In addition to the Conway Confidential videos, American has integrated AA.com/women's destination content with other video content and featured destinations. AA.com/women readers can now find the AAdvantage Milestones video on London, the Conway Confidential video on London, and the Conway Confidential content and special offers on London all together. "As an established leader in welcoming all customers, the enhancements to AA.com/women demonstrate American's continued commitment to women travelers and to improving the overall travel experience," said LeAnn Marchbanks, American's Director of Women's Marketing
http://www.aa.com/aa/pubcontent/en_US/urls/women.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=women
From: Lindsay Schedeler
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 11:10 PM
To: Beth Schnitzer
Subject: WISE SF
Hi Beth,
Since recently joining WISE SF I have benefited both personally and professionally from my membership. The events and programs provide opportunities to learn from and interact with industry leaders, and to network with fellow members. The organization also offers resources for professional development, such as career coaching, and the upcoming mentoring program. I have found the women of WISE SF to be smart, inspiring and fun! I look forward to my membership in the years to come.
Lindsay Schedeler
Blog, New Media & You: Managing Your Digital Identity.
Monday, March 31, 2008
From: Vanessa Murphy
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 10:35 PM
To: Beth Schnitzer
Subject: Your awesome event
Hi there Beth,
Please forgive me for being remiss in writing to let you know how much I enjoyed the Media/blog event @ the Kabuki Hotel on March 31st. I have to say, it really made every single person in the room feel like we really needed to get onboard! From the start of the evening, you were so charming and lovely, so comfortable speaking to the group, as if you were speaking to a friend. You put everyone at ease, and then Zennie was equally funny and charming, but in a different way. It was nice to have a male moderator with a panel of
women. It was obvious that they all not only felt comfortable with him, but respected him. The panel were so fascinating! It really made me, and I'm sure most of the others in the room feel like we need to
get with the program! There was so much good advice, contact information, expertise, and human connection to the subject of media and blogs....it can be daunting, and I think it took alot of the pain of not knowing out of it. I'm not so sure I need to know or want to know that much about people's private lives, but it was so informative.
I hope that you'll continue to present such scintillating
conversation and allow us to push our boundaries with the new new.
Many thanks and will look forward to more with interest.
xxx,
Vanessa
