With the passage of Title IX, female students were given access to athletic opportunities that were unknown to women of prior generations. Explain the basic framework of Title IX—what it promises and requires—and based on information found in Chapter 8, assess how well schools are implementing this law.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANS: Title IX requires that women be provided an equitable opportunity to participate in sports. This does not mean that women’s and men’s athletic opportunities must be identical, only that women and men are given similar opportunities to participate in athletics and that support for male and female teams is proportionate. Although Title IX has created new opportunities for women athletes, the playing field is not equal. Male athletes and coaches continue to receive more financial resources than do female athletes and teams; men’s team often also are privileged in terms of accessing playing fields at prime times. Male athletes also have access to more scholarly support in the form of tutors. Some colleges and universities employ deceptive practices to make it appear that they are meeting Title IX criteria when they are not. Some of these practices include counting male players who practice with women as female athletes and padding the roster of female teams when the numbers are counted only to cut players after the numbers have been recorded.