The latest NCAA Gender-Equity Report, compiled from information provided by member institutions, shows little increase in participation in women's athletics compared to their male counterparts over figures released in the 2001-02 study. The study, done bi-annually since 1991-92, is now conducted annually.

The most recent report, which includes responses from 852 member schools, shows that men's and women's athletics participation in Division I held steady at 56 and 44 percent, respectively, from the 2001-02 report to the most recent data. Division I-A and Division II saw a 1 percent increase in the proportion of female student-athletes and Division III saw a 2 percent increase.

Participation in women's athletics was at 40 percent or more for all divisions, including a 44 percent participation rate in Division I. In Division III, male and female student-athletes averaged an equal proportion, the only division to post equal figures. Since the study was first done in 1991-92, notable increases in female athletics participation have taken place, the most significant being in Division I-AAA, where athletics participation for women has risen from 36 to 50 percent.

In Division I (all subdivisions), institutions averaged 266.1 participants in men's teams and 210 participants in women's teams, up slightly from 262 and 204, respectively, in 2001-02. Division II schools averaged 166 participants in men's teams and 109 in women's teams, up from 163 and 109 in the last study. Participation in Division III men's teams went from an average of 213 in the 2001-02 report to 198 in the 2002-03 report, while average participation in women's teams rose from 143 to 145 per institution.

The only categories in which the rate of increase for women outpaced that in men's athletics were in some financial matters. The increases in spending on scholarships for members of women's teams outpaced that for men's teams in all subdivisions of Division I, but not in Division II. Division III student-athletes do not receive athletics scholarships.

The increase in salaries for women's team head coaches in Divisions I-AAA, II and III also outpaced the increase for those of the men in the same division, but salaries for women's team head coaches decreased 1 percent in Division I from the 2001-02 report. Division II salaries for women's team head coaches composed the highest percentage of the budget for salaries in any division at 48 percent.

Recruiting dollars remained the same for women's athletics in all subdivisions of Division I, while decreasing 1 percent in Divisions II and III from 2001-02 to 2002-03. Actual expenses increased in each division, except Division III, where there was a slight decrease.

After an initial survey of institutions in 1991, the NCAA established a Gender-Equity Task Force, which recommended the survey be repeated in five-year intervals. In 1994, with the Congressional approval of the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA), which required all co-educational institutions that received federal funds and sponsor intercollegiate athletics programs to provide annual reports, the EADA report was combined with the NCAA survey, and the Association began producing the gender-equity study every other year.

The survey is not designed to measure Title IX compliance. The study aims to update gender-equity information from previous years and to provide a comparison of the figures and trends within each division. For the 2002-03 survey, the NCAA research staff received an 82.5 percent response rate.