JackCD

@Adamrideshisbike: I have not claimed the opposite, as you seem to suggest, and have read quite a bit of content on the issue. There is indeed sound research that has, and is still, conducted to study the differences between male and female biological traits and their extent. That being said, I doubt it can go as far as explaining the very specific different makeups of female and male riders accross the world. While there is ample material that does heavily suggest biological differences between men and women, the research on the degree to which that has an impact is very much not there yet. It is quite hard to clearly identify and differenciate environmental and biological differences. Again, considering that some places such as Pemberton do reach 50/50 male to female ratio (or Something close to it), this would suggest that it is indeed an "achievable" "goal". This would suggest that biological differences between men and women are a bad predictor of interest for the sport. Unless, of course, there is a very agressive culture around Pemberton that encourages women more than men to partake in mountain biking. I will, however, seek out whether or not recent advances in the field have reached the granular level at which we can confidently explain sports' preferences of men and women in relation to their biological differences. If you do have a source regarding that, I would gladly read it. I am assuming that M. Murray does not go into such détails into his book (I will also wait on the peer review, as some, but not all, of his previous work had been shoddy at best). Cheers!

Regarding the recurring argument of difference in interests as an explanation for the current situation, here are my humble two cents: - There are definately differences in interests between men and women. The real question would mostly be: is this due to biological differences, envrionmnental/cultural ones or a mix of both? - This is important, because it means the difference between "forcing" something onto someone (as in, for instance, forcing women to like mountain biking) which can never change (biology) or trying to "interest" someone into doing something (for instance, encouraging women to join the sport with women specific marketing and events). - Now, to my knowledge, there is no clear research on the explanations for why there is a difference in interest between the two sexes towards mountain biking. - However, one can readily observe that there is a change in interest over time (on average, it seems more and more women ride) but also depending on geography (the example of the Pemberton riding association in this article would be an example). - Considering that the women living in different areas are very much likely to be biologically identical (on average), this would suggest that environmnetal/cultural factors do play a factor into the question of interest towards the sport. To what degree, we don't know. - The fact that a community like Pemberton reached a ratio of 50/50% suggests that this is a realistic % for communities similar to Pemberton (same ratio of male/female inhabitants, economic condition, etc.) Therefore, it seems reductive and overly simplistic to state that (presumably biological) interests can explain the difference we observe. Societal dynamics can seldom be explained in a single sentence.