Strength in Numbers? the Experiences and Attitudes of Women in Sports Media Careers

This survey of women who work in sports media explored their everyday work experiences and factors that may discourage them from staying in sports media careers. It also explored the liberal feminist assertion that more women working in sports media would lead to better coverage of female sports by probing the values and commitment of respondents in relationship to female sports coverage. Although sports departments may have become more tolerant during the past decade, women who enter sports media careers still face a patriarchal environment that discourages them from pursuing long-term tenure. Further, many survey respondents seem to have adopted hegemonic values, making them more willing to accept their marginal status in the field and less likely to facilitate any change for the marginalized status of women's sports coverage.