Title IX Pros And Cons

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 has had a positive impact on the lives of women in the United States. Before Title IX was passed, girls and women were not given the same opportunities as boys and men when it came to education and athletics. The aim of this amendment has been to promote equal opportunities for girls and women throughout the realm of education and sport. Specifically, 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” (Wuest, 2015, p. 133). Since this amendment was passed, girls and women have been given more
To help further enforce the effects of Title IX, in 1979 the Office of Civil Rights developed a three-prong test better known as the Effective Accommodation Test which was clarified in 1996 (Wuest, 2015). This three-prong test was used to determine if an institution was in compliance with Title IX. The three prongs of the test include proportionality, history of continued practice, and accommodation of interests and abilities (Wuest, 2015). The fist prong of proportionality refers to the opportunities of male and female students, and if they are proportional to full-time student enrolment (Wuest, 2015). The second prong of history and continued practice states how even if the number of male athletes outnumbers female athletes, the school must continue to add women’s sports to be in compliance (Wuest, 2015). The third prong of accommodation of interests and abilities states how if a school’s female students lack ability or interest in certain sports, then the school does not have to sustain those teams (Wuest, 2015). Another sport may be added if female students begin to show interest in particular club sports (Wuest, 2015). While there are three separate prongs to the test, only one of them must be met for an institution to be in compliance with Title IX (Wuest,
Bell (Wuest, 2015). During this court case, Grove City College challenged Title IX by stating how only programs or activities receiving direct federal funding should have to comply with Title IX (Wuest, 2015). Ultimately, Grove City College was successful in winning the court case. Since college institutions technically receive direct federal funding and not the sports teams themselves, they did not have to comply with Title IX (Wuest,