Introduction
There are many policies and programs that have been implemented here in the United States that have changed the way our society functions. One such policy is Title IX. Title IX is the federal law that prevents discrimination based on gender in federally funded educational institutions. This policy expanded on the rights of both men and women in our society to ensure that the American idea of equality remains intact. Title IX granted women the same access to education as men, as some colleges still refused to accept women in the 1970's (Title IX). One of the greatest impacts Title IX has on Social Work clients is the equal access all clients have to resources as provided by federal law. Perhaps the greatest impact that on Social
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Much to the surprise of the congressmen, the legislation was passed and Title IX became an active law (Cohen).
Intent and Coverage of the Policy
First and foremost, Title IX prohibits all federally funded educational institutions from discriminating in any activity or program, on the basis of gender. Adopting Title IX in all other areas of education presented little to no problems. The first interpretation of Title IX in regards to defined expectations for athletics wasn't developed until 1975 (Cohen). In the time before Title IX women of all ages were excluded from a vast majority of athletic opportunities in the primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions. According to research, fewer than 300,000 girls participated in high school sports before Title IX. By 2011, that number had reached a staggering 3 million in 2011. This change was also represented at the collegiate level as well, the numbers grew from under 30,000 female participants to over 200,000 in 2011. Title IX initially created three legal requirements for any education institution that received federal funding. The first was an increase in participation opportunities in student organizations for female
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According to research presented by Becky Vest and Gerald Masterson, records show that two years after Title IX was voted into law approximately 50,000 men and les than 80 women were under athletic scholarship. By 1997 one-third of all the athletic scholarship money was awarded to women. While this may be the case, the number of female participants in athletic programs has grown stagnant and does not equal the number of male participants. The opportunities offered however, are equal. Title IX does not mandate that schools have an equal amount of participation between males and females, but that the institution must present equal opportunities to both males and females. When observing the unpredicted changes in funding with the addition of Title IX, research identifies little to no change in most budgets due to the law. Some schools have reported minor changes in the allotment of money to certain team sports to cover the costs of female teams. Other schools have avoided budget cuts by changing their game schedules to play games closer to home to reduce travel costs. Most schools, however, will find the money to fund athletic programs elsewhere instead of cutting their funding. All schools interviewed also agreed that for every athletic scholarship offered for a male athlete, a scholarship was also available for a female athelete (Vess). While Title IX has been successful, some identify
Before Title IX was signed by President Nixon on June 23 and went into effect on July 1 of 1972, both women and young girls were excluded from many activities that men and young boys were allowed to do. Since the passing of Title IX, women have excelled in all sports tremendously. This essay will argue that because of Title IX, women can now participate in various activities and sports. Title IX of Educational Amendments prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving any type of financial aid, and because of this enactment made by Congress in 1972, women have left their mark on sports history.
The literature review of this article focuses on Title IX itself, as well as statistical numbers that provide the reader knowledge about the impact it has had. Title IX is a comprehensive federal law that has removed many barriers that once prevented people, on the basis of sex, from participating in educational opportunities and careers of their choice (Bower & Hums, 2013). Acosta and Carpenter (2012) reported that the number of female athletes playing college sports has risen from 16,000 in 1968 to over 200,000 in 2012. Although the increased number of opportunities has provided women the chance to participate in the sport, the percentage of women coaching women’s teams has decline over time from 90% in 1972 to 42.9% in 2012 (Acosta & Carpenter, 2012). Alongside coaching is the lack of women working in intercollegiate administration. In 1972, the percentage of female athletic directors overseeing women’s programs was 90%, Today, the percentage of female athletic directors is 20.3%, a small increase from 2010
Great inequalities in the educational system between the sexes have occurred for many years and still occur today. Efforts have been made to rectify this disparity, but the one that has made the most difference is Title IX. Passed in 1972, Title IX attempted to correct the gender discrimination in educational systems receiving public funding. The greatest correction it made was in the area of athletics, but social justice of Title IX applies to many other areas as well. Title IX has an effect on women who are not athletes in many ways, including quality of education, receptivity to education, empowerment and creation of ideals.
While the development of this bill speaks some to the progressive spirit of the 1960s and 1970s, the public backlash to this bill says even more about the lasting impact of discrimination in educational contexts. As Edwards (2010, p. 307) notes, some of the emphasis on Title IX and athletics came from the executive branch as they tried to construct these regulations; gender discrepancies were easy to examine in the context of athletics. However, much of the public attention on Title IX and athletics—and the intense controversy surrounding Title IX—came from the backlash against women athletics. Edwards (2010) suggests that “[The] focus turned to athletics primarily because of those groups fighting against Title IX. Those opposed to Title IX, such as the NCAA and the American Football Coaches Association, drew attention to an issue that the women’s groups originally fighting for Title IX had ignored," (p. 307). Thus, in attempt to quell the encroaching threat of female athletics, groups that opposed Title IX’s role in defending female athletes stoked the flames of controversy that transformed the public understanding and the meaning of the bill.
The idea of equity in society particularly in athletics has been a major topic in athletics for many years. However, in spite of the long and storied history of the fight for equity in athletics we still see a lot of misunderstanding especially involving one particular law. This law is Title IX which has a number of awful misconceptions associated with it even from female athletes themselves. One misconception that is very popular especially among the critics of Title IX is the idea that “Title IX exists to force to schools to drop men’s sport’s”(Kane, pg. 3). This is something that was reinforced by an report authored by Dr. Mary Jo Kane who is a Professor at the University of Minnesota regarding the 40th anniversary of Title IX. Dr. Kane indicated that she opens her sport sociology class discussions on Title IX by asking her class what they know about this subject. Dr. Kane indicated in her report that Title IX “remains a mystery to the vast majority of her students, both male and female” (Kane, pg. 3). Dr. Kane goes on to point out the misconception mentioned above is commonly said by her students including her female D1 scholarship athletes who are the ones that have benefitted most from this law. Overall Title IX is a great law even if it is a law that takes a lot of bad press although this is largely due to the actions or in some cases lack thereof from the leaders who reside in college athletics.
In 1972 Congress passed the Educational Amendments. One section of this law, Title IX, prohibits discrimination against girls and women in federally funded education, including athletic programs. As a result of Title IX, women and girls have benefited from more participation opportunities and more equitable facilities. Women who were under 10 when Title IX passed have much higher sports participation rates than women who grew up before Title IX. Fifty-five percent of the "post-Title IX" generation participated in high school sports, compared to 36% of the "pre-Title IX" generation.35 Because of Title IX, more women have received athletic scholarships and thus the opportunity for higher education than would have
Epstein, Richard. "Women don't need Title IX anymore, and men are hurt by it" Fulton County Daily Report. LexisNexis (November 4, 2002)
There is a connection between the Title IX law and improvements in key areas such as access to higher education, career education, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment, standardized testing, and treatment of pregnant and parenting teens. (Women’s Equity Resource Center, 2003) How in the world does that relate to me you ask? Well, before this law many schools and universities had separate entrances for male and female students. Honestly, did it really matter what door you came in? Apparently, it did. I can see them having a problem with males and females being in the same dormitories, for obvious reasons, but not letting a man and woman walk in the same door to get to a classroom? That’s a little ridiculous if you ask me. I know I could have never lived happily in the past generations, because I have had the freedom of being my own self and having the freedoms of every other race, gender, and social status for the most part. The effect Title IX has played in my life comes in some major issues, as well as simple things such as being allowed to walk through the same door as the man in front of me.
Over two decades have passed since the enactment of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education, including athletics. As a result of Title IX, women and girls have benefited from more athletic participation opportunities and more equitable facilities. Because of Title IX, more women have received athletic scholarships and thus opportunities for higher education that some may not have been able to afford otherwise. In addition, because of Title IX the salaries of coaches for women's teams have increased. Despite the obstacles women face in athletics, many women have led and are leading the way to gender equity.
This article specifically focuses on gender issues and the possible harm that Title IX has caused on male sports while trying to help females. It discusses the college’s decisions about how to adjust to Title IX, such as whether cutting male programs is really a
Men and women may have different plumbing but that doesn’t mean that their physical and educational rights should be any different. Title IX is a law signed by Richard Nixon in 1972, which gives women the same rights as men pertaining to sports and education. Title IX changed the lives of tons of women across the globe by increasing their educational and career opportunities, reducing their risk of breast cancer and teenage pregnancy, but also by making them and easy way for guys to degrade each other.
This past June marked the 40th anniversary of Title IX, a United States law stating that 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. Although the wide spectrum in which Title IX covers includes many educational issues, its application to NCAA athletics has especially been confounded, because, unlike most educational institutions, athletic programs are gender-segregated by sport. In terms of intercollegiate athletics, Title IX essentially states that that all academic institutes of higher education are
In order to prevent either sex from having more benefits from a federally funded program the United States government passed Title IX, which 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”(Iannone). This means that any federally funded program must an equal number of male and female participant, or else the government will lower their funding. Many college sports teams were affected by what Title IX wanted because it prevented many schools to get the proper funding for their sports teams since there were not enough females participating in a sports team. This has prevented many college sports teams from participating in any sport related activities, even though their teams were good enough to participate, but they lacked the funding. Even with Title IX feminists still claims women are are under represented in the educational system, but over the years women have been doing better than men is school, and even more women go to and graduate college. Women have shown their superiority in school, but many feminist want there to be more opportunities for women to enter college than men. Women make up over fifty-five percent of people who enroll in medical, dentistry, law, business, and banking courses in schools, but feminist are only looking at the statistics for the amount of women in S.T.E.M. fields, which is one of the only area they do not make up the majority of people. The S.T.E.M. fields, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, lack women because most of them lack the interest,or abilities to perform well in those fields. There was a study done by the
Although Title IX is to make girls and woman have equal athletic rights in high school, and in college, it is also to protect education for both genders. This equality applies to all educational programs that receive federal funding, and to all aspects of a school 's educational system. This includes sex-segregation and sex stereotypes in education, pregnant and parenting teens ' rights, and gender-based violence. Title IX in schools mandates that girls and boys are united and ensures that no one receives special privileges. Colleges made it a priority to give out more financial aid to women and to make them feel wanted instead of making them feel inferior to men. After this law was issued women’s “enrollment in college began to outpace men” (“Seventies”). Now, more women are accepted into schools. Some of the top schools such as Harvard and Princeton have equal male and women acceptance rates. There is an increase in women that are receiving law degrees and medical degrees compared to previous years.
Prior to the 1970’s women faced gender discrimination in politics in regards to plausibility about political obligation that falls along the lines of gender. Various gender representation within a representative democracy were consistent of male supremacy. Women were denied full citizenship rights such as the right to vote. Women fought for their suffrage in order to gain the right to vote and be entitled social, civil, and moral rights for themselves. Despite the increasing presence of women in American Politics, gender stereotypes still existed. In 1972, Congress passed Title IX in order to end sex-based discrimination in higher education. Although, the act never explicitly states athletics, the act did become recognized frequently in the case of athletics in higher education. In addition to athletics, Title IX extends to prohibiting gender bias in education and the workplace. Even though, there are gains in gender equality with the passage of Title IX, stereotypical bias infiltrate prejudices that frame the full potential of Title IX.