Participation in intramural sports is always much higher among men than women. Recent studies have shown that participation in intramural sports could have numerous benefits, such as stress reduction, enhanced GPA's, and overall student development (Stoll, 2010). It has shown that participation in intramural sports can be beneficial in many ways, and one of the goals of intramural programs focuses on increasing participation among women.
Some of the common themes of why women do not participate in intramurals are time, characteristics of playing, social aspects, information, image, and offerings (Stoll, 2010). I believe that women think they do not have the time to participate in an intramural sports due to other obligations. In addition, as the study also points out, women are more into the social aspect of playing sports and wouldn't want the games to hurt their social relationships (Stoll, 2010). Women care more about maintaining either their social status or their relationships with friends over trying to be as competitive as possible in an intramural event.
One other things worth pointing out is the amount of participation for women in co-rec leagues, which incorporate both men and women playing together in games with modified rules. Women participating in these leagues mostly said that they were afraid men would "dominate" and that it wouldn't be as much fun to participate (Stoll, 2010). It is interesting to see how the women view intramural sports, and what practitioners can do to help increase female participation.
References:
Stoll, A (2010). A qualitative study over low female college student participation in intramural sports. Proquest Dissertations and Theses.
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