Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

Organizational justice research has suggested that collective action is often necessary to change the distribution of resources. Sheppard, Lewicki, and Minton have identified seven factors that increase the likelihood of collective action. The current study demonstrates that an examination of these seven factors can be useful in explaining why women have been able in recent years to increase their relative share of the resources in intercollegiate athletics. The factors also help explain why the women’s sport teams do not yet receive the same share as the men’s teams. Finally, these factors can be helpful in explaining why student athletes have been largely unsuccessful in increasing their relative share of the resources during a period in which women have experienced some success.