Angelina Quirch

Professor Samantha Gonzalez

English 1102

21 March 2023

The Absence of Women College Athletes on Social Media

Proposed Research Question

● What is women's inequality in athletics compared to male athletes throughout social

media? How can this affect the way female student-athletes are viewed?

Significance

My proposed research is interesting to me because I was an athlete in high school and

have a lot of friends here at the University of Central Florida who are athletes so I can really see

firsthand the inequality between female and male sports. There are a lot of cases where females

have higher expectations than males but still do not get rewarded the same when it comes to

getting resources, recognition, and the same opportunities as other male athletes. This is shown

when it comes to merchandise, scholarships, support, social media, and so much more that I will

be focusing on throughout this research paper.

Methodology

Primary Research:

For my primary research, I plan on going straight to the source and talking to female

athletes here at the University of Central Florida. I will interview two different female athletes

who are a part of the official rowing team. This will allow me to hear first hands on the

differences in resources given between male and female sports. I will also be focusing on the

official Instagram accounts and Twitter accounts to see what is mainly being prioritized there and
what information they are trying to give out to their audience. I want to also take surveys of the

live audience when it comes to attendance at UCF baseball games and UCF softball games to see

the comparison and how they differ.

Secondary Research:

For my secondary research, I plan on using other people's research in order to help

support my topic and get an insider from other people’s points of view as well when it comes to

high school, other college colleges, and the big leagues. I also found some very helpful articles

that related to female athletes in college which also helped me when it comes to knowing some

of the things I should ask in my surveys and interviews when performing research. Listed below

are some of the articles and resources I will be using in order to find out more information.

Press, Associated. “Second NCAA Gender Equity Report Shows More Money Spent on Male

Athletes than Female Ones on Average.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 27 Oct. 2021,

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/32481915/second-ncaa-gender-equity-re

port-shows-more-money-spent-male-athletes-female-ones.

Alfveby, Gabby. “Facing Inequality on and off the Court: The Disparities between Male and

Female Athletes.” The Flagler College Gargoyle, 22 Apr. 2022,

https://gargoyle.flagler.edu/2022/04/facing-inequality-on-and-off-the-court-the-disparities-

between-male-and-female-athletes/.

Yim, Maria. Genre Analysis of Patient Notes and Documentation Practices in the ICU.

https://cah.ucf.edu/writingrhetoric/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2019/10/Stylus_10_1_For

shee.pdf.

Diaz, Jaclyn. “The NCAA's Focus on Profits Means Far More Gets Spent on Men's

Championships.” NPR, NPR, 27 Oct. 2021,

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/27/1049530975/ncaa-spends-more-on-mens-sports-report-r

eveals.