Will things ever change?: A content analysis that examines the social media coverage of female and male collegiate athletes

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the differences in coverage between female and male athletes on intercollegiate Instagram accounts. Past studies on sports media has shown that female athletes lack coverage in comparison to male athletes, which is why this research is very important (Tucker Center, 2015). Social media is a different outlet of media because of the unlimited amount of space it offers. Since there is no limitation on space and the participation of female and male athletes are similar, in college athletics, it is assumed that coverage would be pretty equal. This study analyzed twenty- two Instagram accounts and found that female athletes were underrepresented with only 37% of the coverage.