my experience
The first thing you ask someone when you meet them Freshmen year is: what’s your major? And maybe where are you from and where are you living? The answer that always seems to intrigue people, boys specifically, is when I tell them I’m pursuing Sports Management. Sports are very prevalent within men’s lives and many of them grow up playing or watching sports. It’s part of their childhood and culture as a boy, but not for all.
When a man asks me about my major and I tell them Sports Management, I see a different reaction compared to women. Women usually find it interesting because it’s a relatively niche major that not a lot of people study. Same occurs with men however they ask if I like sports, and if so, which sports teams. Perhaps, it’s out of curiosity, but I think it shows the difference in how men and women go about sports in this society.
For women, I see excitement and surprise but for men there’s a face of surprise and confusion. I think there are still elements of slight doubt in women when they say they’re pursuing sports or they work in sports. Along with many other careers, sports are specific to gender inequality because men dominate many different administrative positions, though not all. I think sports are still developing in regard to diversity and inclusion but lots of corporations have increased their representation of women.
Women are greatly compared to men, and their knowledge is typically undermined in sports. Even in small interactions there are moments when there’s doubt in women. Initially, I had thought a lot of my classes would be prominently men, and don’t get me wrong, there are still more men than women within my classes, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw more women than I had thought. It was nice that there were ones that I could relate to, and those who were studying this major for similar reasons to mine.
women in sports
The sports industry is still changing, but the input of different perspectives between genders and races adds to a better working industry, like sports. Theres a huge amount of growth in involvement with women’s sports like basketball, soccer, tennis, volleyball and more etc. The WNBA has had huge growth, so has college basketball, because of Caitlyn Clark, Angel Reese and other young players who have influenced women’s basketball in the past couple of years.
Besides women playing sports, women working in sports have worked their way to the top and many of them are in executive positions which has created an influential and successful environment for women. Women should continue to pursue a career in sports because it breaks gender barriers and its crucial to this industry. I think there may always be small moments when it feels like a man is doubting a woman, even in any context besides sports, but it’s up to women to change stereotypes and be influential.
