Learn about the types of people who become athletes. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2024
65% of athletes work in full-time roles while 35% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming an athlete. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming athletes at a ratio of 4.05 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2024
32% of athletes are female and 68% are male.
Gender Bias, 2024
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being an athlete and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming an athlete and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are more men interested in becoming an athlete than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of athletes are White, making up 51% of the population. The next highest segments are Black or African American and Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, making up 16% and 11% respectively.