Today is an important day in sports history. On June 23, 1972 Title IX was signed into law by Richard Nixon. I know my life today would be incredibly different if not for Title IX. Title IX greatly expanded opportunities for women and girls in the United States to be able to pursue athletics as well as education without discrimination. It’s hard to imagine ending up at the same place today without Title IX. Who knows what I would be doing today, but I would guess I would not be a sports medicine physician.
Many people have heard of Title IX but many do not know the history of the legislation.
What is Title IX:
Title IX is a section of the US Eduction Amendments that 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.”
While most noted for its application to athletics, Title IX applies to all aspects of student life and education. It protects students from kindergarten to the higher education level. It’s scope includes: access to higher education, athletics, career eduction, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math, science, technology, sexual harassment, recruitment, admission, and housing.
Title IX and Sport
Due to Title IX: women and men must be provided equitable opportunities to participate in sport. Their scholarship dollars should be proportionate to their participation. They are required to have access to the same benefits including tutoring, coaching, medical services, equipment and supplies, publicity, dining services, support services, and recruitment
Compliance is measured by the sometimes considered controversial three prong test: In order to be complaint a program must either
a. have a proportionate number of male and female athletes to the male and female enrollment.
b. demonstrate a history and continuing practice of program expansion for the underrepresented sex
c. accommodate the interest and abilities of the underrepresented sex by ensuring there are no unmet needs or interests that can be reasonably accommodated in the underrepresented group.
Who Do We have to Thank for Title IX?:
Did you know that Title IX is now called the Patsy Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act? So who was Patsy Mink? Patsy Mink was a Japanese- American from Hawaii. She graduated from law school in 1951 and faced discrimination throughout her career. She was elected to the Hawaiian Territorial Legislature and was the first woman to serve int he territorial house and went on to serve in the territorial senate and the state senate. She was awarded posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama. Title IX applies to all educational institutions that receive federal funds and applies to all aspects of student life and education. It protects students from kindergarten to the higher education level.
She and representative Edith Green wrote the early drafts starting in 1970. The amendment was sponsored by Indiana senator Birch Bayh. In his (Bayh) remarks he stated:
“While the impact of this amendment would be far-reaching…it is not a panacea. It is, however, an important first step in the effort to provide for the women of America something that is rightfully theirs—an equal chance to attend the schools of their choice, to develop the skills they want, and to apply those skills with the knowledge that they will have a fair chance to secure the jobs of their choice with equal pay for equal work”
Richard Nixon signed the Title IX amendment on June 23, 1972. Regulations were released in 1975 and universities were given 3 years to comply. There have been several changes throughout the years but Title IX remains an important part of the education system in the United States.
Benefits:
So how have women benefited?:
High school sport participation increased from 300,000 to 3.2 million from 1971 to 2011. Only 30,000 women participated in college sports in 1971 but as of 2011; 190,000 women participated in college sports. Women now receive 48% of athletic scholarship money at D1 schools and women represent 53% of the total college student body. The greatest group impacted is female athletes of color.
Moreover, participation in youth and high school sports has been shown to produce lifetime benefits for women. Women who participated in HS sports have better bone health, better metabolic health, cardiovascular health, and are less at risk to develop obesity. Sports participation has been tied to improved mental health outcomes in people with adverse childhood events.
Success Stories of Title IX:
Girls and women’s soccer took off after Title IX. The first national woman’s league was created in 1985. The US women’s team has had great success in recent years likely because women have more opportunity in the US for sports participation compared to women from countries who have not invested in women’s sports. Every member of the 2015 team that won the World Cup was born after Title IX was enacted. Many also attribute recent success of the 1999 team to increasing the popularity of the sport.
In recent national competitions such as the 2016 Rio Olympics, US women’s teams have been very strong.
In recent national competitions such as the 2016 Rio Olympics, US women’s teams have been very strong. The United States has been dominant in gymnastics, swimming, basketball, rowing, water polo, and soccer. The women’s team brought home more medals than any other team in Rio. This was not always so, in the 77 Munich Olympics US womens teams brought home 23 medals compared to 71 medals brought home by the US men. The success of the United States women’s team is the downstream effect of Title IX and the expansion of opportunities for girls and women in sports.
Per Donna Lopiano the former CEO of the Women’s Sports Federation:
“We give more opportunity to women in this country, and it’s not even close. You are seeing the effects of that in these Olympics” “Since 1972, thanks to increased funding and institutional opportunities, there has been a 545% increase in the percentage of women playing college sports and 990% increase in the percentage of women playing highschool sports.”
Controversy:
As with anything there has been controversy that Title IX has led to the elimination of male sports programs through quotas. There is not truly a quota system and Title IX is not based on equal money for men’s and women’s sports, but on providing similar quality and quantity of facilities, services, and equipment. While some sports have lost programs such as men’s gymnastics and wrestling there has been a gain in men’s baseball, lacrosse, and soccer over that time. In fact it may be more accurate that the expense of men’s basketball and football may lead to a lack of funding for other men’s sports as these sports can take up as much as 80% of a schools expenditure. I do acknowledge that these are the revenue generating sports for many schools.
There has also been discussion of a crisis of opportunity for youth boys as a result .The data frankly does not support this as there are still more boys participating in school sports than girls. The data does suggest that hispanic and African American students of both genders lack the opportunities of their white counterparts however.
Moving Forward:
Further work for women: While Title IX has truly changed the landscape for women in the US, work still needs to be done for equity. Girls are still 2x more likely to be inactive as boys. Girls of color are especially at risk for inactivity and less involvement in sporting activities. There is still less opportunity for girls at both the high school and college level. Women’s sports tend to have inferior equipment, publicity, and facilities. There is a great deal of improvement needed in equality in athletic staff as coaches and directors are more likely to be male.
Transgender athletes: In 2016 Obama issued guidance that transgender students be protected under Title IX. It instructed schools to treat students consistent with their gender identity and not their birth sex, however, these guidances have been rolled back under the Trump administration. Most recently in May 2020, the Trump administration’s Department of Education stated the rights of cisgender women were being infringed upon by transgender women and issued a statement to withhold federal funding to schools which affirm the identities of transgender athletes.
Internationally UNESCO has been working on an international action plan to bring equal opportunity for physical education, physical activity ,and sport to all girls and women in the world.
I would love to hear your thoughts on Title IX. What do you think you gained the most from it? What is it’s legacy and what more do think need’s done?
For more information:
Unesco International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS): https://en.unesco.org/themes/sport-and-anti-doping/mineps
Women’s Sport Foundation https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org