The Daily Bulletin Archive

Ken Robinson's latest manuscript, "UConn Women's Basketball: Dynasty and Dominance versus Gender Inequality in Sports Media Coverage," has been published in Volume I of Women in Sports: Breaking Barriers, Facing Obstacles (A. N. Milner and J. H. Braddock II, eds.; ABC-CLIO, 2017). Robinson interviewed Dan Shaughnessy, sports columnist for the Boston Globe. The author of 12 books, Shaughnessy has been named Mass Sportswriter of the Year 11 times and a top-10 columnist by AP sports editors 11 times. Shaughnessy caused a stir in 2016 when he stated that UConn's women's basketball team was ruining the sport because of its dominance. His statements and the ensuing controversy provoked much-needed discussion about gender inequalities in sports media coverage. 

Robinson's chapter looks at the UConn women's basketball program as a case study in the evolution and growth of the sport since the enactment of Title IX in 1972. Despite the significant achievements of the UConn women's basketball program over the last 20 years—they have shattered all major team records in men's and women's college basketball—gender inequalities persist. The discussion used theoretical perspectives such as "gender schema theory," "equity theory," and "labeling" to examine and explain the greater harm associated with the perception of women in sports, the devaluing of their contributions in sport, and the hazard of women being typecast through pejorative labeling.