Pedal to the metal woman style — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Pedal to the metal woman style

Name: Courtney Atkinson
Major: Business Management
Hometown: Franklin, WI
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

Women have been fighting for rights for a very long time. It is great that we have accomplished so much, but there are still doubts about a woman’s ability; especially when it comes to a woman's ability to participate and live in a “man’s world”. This poster will detail one corner of the man’s world in which women are now active - auto racing.

Auto Racing has been dominated by males who do not always approve of a woman entering into the sport. However, in the history of auto racing there are many examples of women who have raced against men and won, including some championships. When these women, such as Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, and Shirley Muldowney were racing, things were different. They were discriminated against simply because they were women and male racers felt they did not have the guts to do what their male counterparts did. Today, those same prejudices still exist and sexual objectification has been added. Women are consistently thought of as eye candy that boost the ratings of the races. Women drivers have been promoted mainly through their sex appeal.

This discrimination needs to end. Women drivers are training and marketing other women drivers to promote their skills and talents. The practice of evaluating male drivers separately from female drivers need to be abolished. They are all simply race car drivers.

My project looks at female racers’ strategies for generating financial support (essential, marketing themselves) in an economy where sex sells. Male race car drivers do not earn support through their sexual appeal. What marketing strategies are available to women drivers who want to be recognized for their driving skills rather than their bodies?

The presence of women in auto racing is a very recent phenomenon. These women's stories and their strategies open a fresh perspective on marketing and gender equity. These stories are exciting and new.

My strategy was to place women race car drivers into the context of marketing as a means for corporate sponsorship, indicating ways in which their situation was unique because, as women, they are disadvantaged by the idea that “sex sells". Then I narrowed my focus to detail strategies used by individual woman drivers. My conclusion is that Lyn St. James is a viable role model in her academy, Women in the Winner's Circle, and in her mentorship of promising younger women drivers.

Poster file