WOMEN IN THE TURFGRASS INDUSTRY BY DEVON CARROLL AND CARRIE STEPHENS , PH . D .
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
WOMEN IN THE TURFGRASS INDUSTRY BY DEVON CARROLL AND CARRIE STEPHENS , PH . D .
A look at most athletic fields before a game rarely reveals a woman working to prepare the playing surface . The turfgrass industry is estimated to support more 800,000 jobs in the United States . However , despite comprising 51 % of the U . S . population and 47 % of the overall labor force , women certainly do not represent nearly half of the labor force in the turfgrass industry . Although female groundskeepers have recently gained attention in media , their numbers are few . As of February 2020 , only 100 of the more than 2,500 members in the Sports Turf Managers Association ( STMA ) were women , making up just 4 % of total membership . Surprisingly , this number is slightly higher than the 2 % female membership reported for women working in golf turf by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and Canadian Golf Superintendents Association .
8 SportsField Management | May 2021 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com