11.11.1 Title IX at 30: Report Card on Gender Equity

The title of this document, Title IX at 30: Report Card on Gender Equity, assumes that all readers are familiar with Title IX, a 37-word section of a 1972 education law that outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex. Title IX states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Passed at a time when females faced widespread discrimination in all areas of education, Title IX attempted to encourage the importance of gender equity in education. The term “sex” used in the law hinged on a male/female binary and did not take into consideration sexual orientation or gender identity. Since its passage, Title IX has become more commonly associated with gender equity in sports. In 2002, the thirtieth anniversary of Title IX, the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education commissioned this report. As you read the excerpt, note what kinds of progress had been made in the 30 years of Title IX’s existence. Also, note what kind of inequities still existed. Why do you think the authors of this report gave the grade of a C+ to gender equity in athletics? Do you agree or disagree with the grade, and why? Consider whether the amendment could or should have a wider application in education beyond athletics; where else would it be appropriate to apply Title IX?

Title IX at 30: Report Card on Gender Equity was a report commissioned by the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, a nonprofit education and advocacy organization. The organization aims to document the impact of Title IX, the 37-word section of a 1972 education law that outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex. Title IX came about in the context of the civil rights and women’s rights movements of the 1960s and ’70s. The 1972 Education Amendments were intended to require educational institutions that receive federal funds to prohibit discrimination in admissions based on gender (which many institutions had already done). At the time the amendments passed, married women could not apply for credit cards without their husbands’ permission (this would later be addressed in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974). It was not until 1975 that the Supreme Court would rule that all states had to allow women to serve on juries; it was not until the 1990s that all 50 states would acknowledge marital rape as a crime. In recent years, Title IX has been used as the legal basis to eliminate sexual harassment and sexual assault on college campuses. Before your students read this 2002 report and draw comparisons about its application to their own lives, make sure they read the text of Title IX: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Since its passage, Title IX has become more commonly associated with gender equity in sports. However, as the text suggests, its application could be spread much more broadly. As your students read the text of Title IX, study the text of the report, and draw comparisons to their lives, these questions can guide them: What kind of progress had been made in the more than 30 years of Title IX’s existence? What kind of inequities still existed in 2002? Why do you think the authors of this report gave the grade of C+ to gender equity in athletics? Do you agree or disagree with the grade, and why? Should there be other applications of Title IX to promote educational equity?

Athletics: C+
For many people, Title IX is synonymous with expanded opportunities in athletics. Women’s and girls’ increased participation in sports, the impressive achievements of the nation’s female athletes, their stunning advances in summer and winter Olympic Games, and the creation of nationally televised professional women’s basketball and soccer leagues demonstrate Title IX’s success. It takes a large and vibrant base of general sports participants and 15 to 20 years of elite athlete support to create an Olympic gold medalist or professional athlete - years in which an athlete is given access to quality coaching, sports facilities, weight rooms, athletic scholarships, and competition. Before Title IX, women and girls were precluded from taking advantage of most athletic opportunities in school, but the outcome of equal opportunity on the playing fields is becoming more apparent.

Still, Olympic medals and professional sports contracts are not what Title IX is all about. Rather, the quest for equal opportunity in sports has always been about the physiological, sociological, and psychological benefits of sports and physical activity participation. Research studies commissioned by the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1998 and 2000 found that girls who play sports enjoy greater physical and emotional health and are less likely to engage in a host of risky health behaviors (I.e., drug use, smoking, and drinking) than nonparticipants. Other studies have linked sports participation to reduced incidences of breast cancer and osteoporosis later in life. Yet compared to boys, girls enjoy 30 percent fewer opportunities to participate in high school and college sports and are twice as likely to be inactive. Much distance remains between the current status of women and girls in sports and the ultimate goal of gender equity.

Participation Rates and Resource Allocation
Prior to 1972, women and girls looking for athletic competition were more likely to try out for cheerleading or secure places in the bleachers as spectators. In 1971 fewer than 295,000 girls participated in high school varsity athletics, accounting for just 7 percent of all high school varsity athletes. The outlook for college women was equally grim: Fewer than 30,000 females competed in intercollegiate athletics. Low participation rates reflected the lack of institutional commitment to providing athletics programming for women. Before Title IX, female college athletes received only 2 percent of overall athletic budgets, and athletic scholarships for women were virtually nonexistent.

Title IX has changed the playing field significantly. By 2001 nearly 2.8 million girls participated in athletics, representing 41.5 percent of varsity athletes in U.S. high schools - an increase of more than 847 percent from 1971. Progress on college campuses has also been impressive. Today 150,916 women compete in intercollegiate sports, accounting for 43 percent of college varsity athletes - an increase of more than 403 percent from 1971. Contrary to media reports, men’s participation levels at both the high school and college level have also increased....
Although the resources and benefits allocated to female athletes also have improved significantly after Title IX’s passage, they also fall far short of what equity requires. After 30 years, the gap is still significant and closing much too slowly. Institutions are not exercising restraint on men’s sports expenditures while women’s sports catch up.

In the past four years, for every new dollar going into athletics at the Division I and Division II levels, male sports received 58 cents while female sports received 42 cents.

Each year male athletes receive $133 million or 36 percent more than female athletes in college athletic scholarships at NCAA member institutions

In Division I, colleges spent an average of $2,983 per female athlete compared to $3,786 for male athletes.