women

Despite accounting for about 50 percent of the population, women are vastly underrepresented in the professional coaching environment. As recently as 2012, no women worked as coaches for the NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB.

As a child, junior swimmer Clare Larsen loved to play sports. Despite her passion, however, she always thought of sports as a boys’ world, and the male-dominated culture initially discouraged her from chasing her dreams of Division I recruitment. The message from people around her, Larsen said, was that “sports are healthy for a young woman, but [they’re] not necessarily something that you pursue.”

With a new generation of athletes like Ada Hegerberg, Marta Vieira da Silva, and Naomi Osaka, activism in sports has shifted in a new direction. Female athletes have risen to the front lines of many protests, ranging from struggles for equal pay in sports to police brutality and racial injustice.

In a major win for feminists everywhere, Jean Miller of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, made herstory on January 6 by becoming one of the first women ever to break into the U.S. Capitol.

Happy International Women’s Day! March 8 is a day to celebrate the global achievements of women and work toward a more gender-equitable future. So if you want to learn more about female empowerment or contribute to the cause but aren’t sure where to start, check out the resources we have listed below.

With hints of springtime in the air, the weather is perfect for taking a leisurely stroll for lunch to a local restaurant. To celebrate International Women’s Day this year, why not visit some female-owned restaurants in or around Morningside Heights? Check out Spectrum’s local guide for a number of women-owned food spots near campus.

When sophomore Rachel Marsh first arrived at Columbia, she felt like something was off, but wasn’t sure what. Marsh, a sprinter on the track and field team, came to New York from Garland, Texas, and spent her first semester caught up in the whirlwind rhythms of practice, competition, and academics.