Abstract

Abstract: There is a shortage of female sports journalists and a lack of media coverage of women's sports. Part of the explanation for this must lie in the shortage of female students choosing to take sports journalism degrees and training courses. How bad is the problem? What are the causes of it? And what is life like for the few female students who choose to take such courses? This paper provides new data on the extent of the problem with the results of Freedom of Information requests to UK universities providing sports journalism education. It then discusses the nature of the problem from the perspectives of UK female sports journalism students through a series of structured interviews. In doing so, this paper seeks to add to a growing conversation about the lack of gender diversity within the sports media and to provide recommendations about how this could be addressed.