1. %FemaleParticipants
Gender Inequality Index
women more equal  women less equal
Guys and Gals Going for Gold: Sex Differences in Olympic Success Across Nations
Erika Schmitt (schmiter@mail.gvsu.edu); Aaron Lowen (lowena@gvsu.edu) Economics Department; Robert O. Deaner (deanerr@gvsu.edu) Psychology Department
%FemaleMedalists
Gender Inequality Index
women more equal  women less equal
Redder indicates greater gender inequality
0
100
200
300
400
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 20 40 60
• Across nations, the advancement of women is associated with
economic development (Klasen & Lamanna, 2009; Rees &
Riezman, 2012), health (Scanlan, 2010), and well-being (Bucciarelli et
al., 2011).
• Many have hypothesized that the advancement of women in a
society may be linked with female athletic opportunities
(Brake, 2010; Diekman & Eagly, 2000; Hogshead-Makar & Zimbalist
2007) . However, this claim has rarely been tested (but see Deaner &
Smith, 2012).
• Here we address this question with data from the summer Olympic
games. The summer Olympics games, held every 4 years, is
arguably the largest sporting event in the world, in terms of its
viewership, prestige, and breadth of national participation.
• Studies have found that population size, GDP, being a host
nation, and past Olympic success predict medals won (Bernard &
Busse, 2004; Johnson & Ali, 2004; Lui & Suen, 2008; Van Tuyckom &
Joreskog, 2012). All previous studies lumped and men’s and
women’s medals together, neglecting the possibility of meaningful
variation in sex differences.
Introduction
Methods
Results Discussion
References
With increasing gender equality, women’s percentage participation increases
With increasing gender equality, women’s percentage medals won increases
• We tested whether nations with greater gender equality show greater
women’s athletic success. Our first measure of women’s athletic
success is the percentage of a nation’s total medals won that were
won by women. Our second measure is the percentage of a nation’s
total participants that were women. Participation is a good measure
of success because most Olympic events have difficult qualification
standards.
• We focused on the summer Olympic games held in
1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. We obtained data on medals won from a
New York Times database and olympic.org/sports. We obtained data
on participation from sports-
reference.com/olympics/about/olymadmen.html.
• We measured women’s advancement with the Gender Inequality
Index (GII). The GII was developed by the United Nations and is
based on reproductive health (e.g., maternal
mortality), empowerment (e.g. parliamentary
representation, educational attainment), and labor market
participation.
• By assessing women’s success relative to men’s in each nation, we
reduce the need to control other variables, such as GDP and
population. Nevertheless, analyses below incorporated them.
• This figure shows the results for the 47
nations who won at least 10 total medals
from 1996-2008. The number of medals
won by each nation is indicated in
parentheses.
• The relationship is significant r (45) =
.37, p = .01. It remains significant in
models controlling for GDP and
population size and including all nations.
Total medals won (men
and women) correlated
with total
participants, r (45) =
.89, p < .001.
Although not
surprising, this is the
first demonstration of
the relationship.
The correlation between
% female medalists and
% female participants
was significant, r (45) =
.62, p < .001.
Nevertheless, the
relationship was not
so strong that these
measures were
redundant.
Participants
Medals
%FemaleMedalists
% Female Participants
• This figure shows the results for the 47
nations who won at least 10 total medals
from 1996-2008.
• The relationship is not significant, r (45) =
.26, p = .08. The result is unchanged in
models controlling for GDP and
population size and including all nations.
Gender Inequality Index For assistance with participation data, we thank Dr. Bill Mallon.
• This is the first cross-national study of the relation between
women’s advancement and athletic success. Results indicate
that greater gender equality leads to greater women’s Olympic
participation. Nonetheless, the relationship was modest, and
many nations did not fit the pattern.
• The athletic success of U.S. women is of particular interest
because many have suggested it is exceptional thanks to Title IX
legislation (Brown & Connolly, 2010; Cahn, 1994;
Longman, 2000). Compared to other nations, however, American
women are typical in terms of participation and medals won
relative to their male counterparts.
• We are conducting further studies that explore:
 relations between participation and medals won
 changes over time
 team vs. individual sports
 winter Olympics
 measures of sports interest and physical fitness
 additional measures of women’s advancement
 weighted regression models
 additional variables (e.g., religiosity, military spending)
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NYU Press.
Brown, K. J., & Connolly, C. (2010). The role of law in promoting women in elite athletics: An
examination of four nations. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 45, 3–21.
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