A long-standing commitment, an active agenda
Women’s sports have been part of the NCAA since 1981, when the Association approved a plan to add them and conducted the first women’s championships in field hockey, cross country, and volleyball.
Today the NCAA sponsors 45 women’s championships and three coed championships across 21 sports — and is actively working to close the participation gap that still exists between women and men in college athletics.
Women athletes in NCAA championship sports, 2023-24
Women’s NCAA championships across 21 sports
Student-athletes competing in emerging sports for women
Athlete gap remaining between men and women in NCAA sports
Three areas of focus
The NCAA’s work on women and gender equity moves on three fronts: celebrating the women who shape college sports, creating new opportunities to compete, and supporting the leaders who run athletics programs.
Browse every woman recognized through NCAA awards programs.
Emerging sports for women and growing pathways to play.
SWA designation, the Pathway Program, and more.
A landmark law: Title IX
Passed in 1972 as part of the Educational Amendments to the Civil Rights Act, Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program that receives federal funding. The NCAA expects every member institution to uphold and abide by its requirements.
In celebration of Title IX’s 50th anniversary in 2022, the NCAA released The State of Women in College Sports report, illustrating advancements in women’s sports participation and access to opportunities.
Advancing gender equity
A 2021 gender equity review identified specific issues across NCAA championships and positioned the Association to address them. A new eight-year media rights agreement covering 40 championships — including women’s basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and softball — has significantly increased revenue, and the NCAA is now exploring revenue distribution units for the women’s basketball tournament.
Lasting change requires working together. Meaningful progress will come from coordinated efforts among NCAA members, college athletes, and NCAA staff.
How we define it
The NCAA Gender Equity Task Force defines gender equity this way:
“An athletics program can be considered gender equitable when the participants would accept as fair and equitable the overall program(s) offered for other genders. No individual should be discriminated against on the basis of gender, institutionally or nationally, in intercollegiate athletics.”
— NCAA Gender Equity Task Force, 2024
Emerging Sports for Women
The NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program creates new participation opportunities and supports the growth of sports with the potential to achieve NCAA championship status.
Since its launch, the program has helped thousands of student-athletes compete at the collegiate level while encouraging schools to sponsor additional women’s sports.
Currently recognized emerging sports include equestrian, flag football, rugby and triathlon. Schools that sponsor emerging sports help close the participation gap between men and women in college athletics.