Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball in 1947, and while he and his team originally faced scrutiny and criticism for the move, Robinson has become a national hero even after his death. It’s hard for us modern-day thinkers to imagine professional sports segregated, but the truth is, professional sports in today’s society are still segregated – by gender.

The worldwide sports scene is dominated by men. However, with the world becoming increasingly progressive and the push for equality between the sexes in full throttle, it’s time to ask a serious question: when and will women start to participate and excel in male-dominated professional sports?

In ancient societies, traditional roles were set with men building structures, fighting wars and hunting for food – activities that required strenuous physical activity – and women stayed closer to home, completing important, though less physically demanding tasks. Those roles translated into early sport and game. Our ancestors most likely observed the physical differences between men and women, differences that range from women’s increased body fat percentage to men’s increased production of oxygen-transporting red blood cells. There are women, however, farther up the “statistical curve” whose physical ability rivals or even exceeds those of men. Besides, not every professional sport relies on athleticism alone. So why don’t we see more women in male sports?

The answer lies more within our societal values and perspective on athletics and competition than it does biological factors. Young girls are generally not encouraged or pushed as hard as young boys are to participate in sports. An aspiring young girl who tries out for sports with boys her age may be ridiculed by her peers for not being “feminine” enough, a problem that even surfaces in professional women’s sports with athletes who exhibit qualities that many deem to be “masculine.”

These ideas, however, are changing rapidly. Women and men across the world are challenging the “standard” images of the athletic male and the admiring female. Billy Jean King, Seana Hogan, and Jackie Tonawanda are all historical examples of women who have not only played predominantly men’s sports, but beaten men at them. These women were remarkable, but none was able to spearhead a substantial movement that led to the further integration of the sport like Jackie Robinson did. The world is still waiting on a woman who doesn’t just break a barrier, but leads a movement.

So which major American sport will be the first to see a full wave of female athletes join their male counterparts? Sports that require more acquired skills, like basketball, may have a better chance than sports that rely more on brute strength or speed, like football. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban nudged open the door of possibility when he said that he would consider drafting former Baylor basketball star Brittney Griner, a 6’ 8’’ center. Also, the San Antonio Spurs recently hired former WNBA guard Becky Hammon as an assistant coach, the first such hire in league history.

While neither example features a female competing in professional male sports, they are both steps in the right direction. It won’t be too long – perhaps within the next decade – before we see professional rosters that feature multiple women with the skill and desire to compete and win along with their male counterparts.