How Title IX Has Impacted Women's Collegiate Sports
by
Adrienne L. Sparks
A SENIOR THESIS
in
GENERAL STUDIES
Submitted to the General Studies Council in the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas Tech University in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
BACHELOR OF GENERAL STUDIES
Approved
D~~ - Debbiecs;ve~ie Department of Marketing Chairperson of Thesis Committee
-Dr. "'Eliza.beth. Hall Office of the Provost
Accepted
Dr. Michael Schoenecke Director of General Studies
May 2000 /n ^ " ' ^'- '""' Acknowledgements 73 -"^^^ I appreciate the contribution of the following people In. V _ and groups who helped make this paper possible. Without
your interest and help, this thesis would not have been
possible. The Women's Sport Foundation provided me with
numerous articles and a better insight into women's sports
and gender equity. For their tireless effort and work, my
committee members: Dr. Debbie Laverie and Dr. Elizabeth
Hall. Special thanks to my family, especially my dad, for
always pushing me to strive for my best. Finally, I would
like to thank Dr. Dale Davis, Dr. Michael Schoenecke and
especially Ms. Linda Gregston for always believing in me
and giving me advice.
11 TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii
LIST OF TABLES iv
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. HISTORY OF TITLE IX 2
III. THE RE-BIRTH OF TITLE IX 6
IV. TITLE IX AND MEN'S SPORTS 8
V. WOMEN'S COACHING
AND ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATION 10
VI. PARTICIPATION 13
VII. RECRUITMENT AND EXPENDITURES 15
VIII. SCHOLARSHIPS 17
IX. MEDIA COVERAGE 19
X. MARKETING POWER 22
XI. SOCIAL RAMIFICATIONS 24
XII. CONCLUSION 27
BIBLIOGRAPHY 4 3
111 LIST OF TABLES
1 Trends in participation of Women's athletics of NCAA Div-1. 30
2 NCAA athletics participation 1971-1997 31
3 Changes in NCAA Women's participants from 1995-1996. 32
4 Scholarship dollar allocation by NCAA in 1995-1996. 33
5 Scholarship dollar allocation by NCAA in 1998-1999. 34
6 Coaches of NCAA Women's teams 35
7 Proportion of salaries spent on Women's teams in NCAA Div-1. 36
8 Average recruiting budget of NCAA Div-1 1998-1999. 37
9 Average operating budget of NCAA Div-1 1998-1999. 38
10 Total expenses of Men's and Women's Div-IA athletic programs. 39
11 Treatment of Women's teams: How NCAA divisions compare, participation. 40
12 Treatment of Women's teams: How NCAA divisions compare, scholarships. 41
13 Sports careers by gender 1996. 42
IV CfiAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In 1972 The Education Amendment was passed by Congress
and signed into law by President Nixon. A portion of the
Amendment stated: "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" (Jones 1). This statement commonly
known as Title IX had consequences far beyond any one's expectations. This legislation meant that schools and universities receiving money from the federal government had to offer equal programs, facilities and opportunity for women and men. The law specified that women had the right to all training facilities, equipment and competitive opportunities as men. A direct result of Title IX was the development and phenomenal growth of women's college athletics. A more subtle result was the gradual change of women's attitudes about themselves and their role in society and society's view of them. CHAPTER II
HISTORY OF TITLE IX
Title IX had a difficult birth and an uneasy life. It has been assaulted from many sides. It took years to be implemented and was rendered impotent in the 1980's.
However, Title IX has preserved, and its accomplishments are seen today, but its journey has been difficult and controversial. The final draft of the Amendment in 1973 implemented regulations signed into law by President Ford.
Universities and colleges were given until 1978 to comply.
Guidelines were implemented for colleges and universities, but the statue was so controversial that at least three sets of guidelines were issued between 1976-1979. Athletic programs at schools funded by the federal government were required to follow one of the these three guidelines:
1) Provide athletic opportunities to females and males
substantially proportional to their respected
enrollments. 2) Constantly expand programs for the
gender that is underrepresented, whether the
institutions can show a history and continuing
practice of program expansion, which is demonstrable,
responsive to the developing interests and abilities of that sex. 3) Show they fully and effectively meet
the interest of the gender that is underrepresented,
whether it can be demonstrated that the interests and
abilities of the members of that sex have been fully
and effectively accommodated by the present program.
(Jones 2)
The three-part test gives three options for measuring compliance the requirements to allow any person of each sex equal opportunity to participate in intercollegiate athletics. OCR determines if the institution is abiding by the three-part test (WSF 2). Title IX derived its power from the fact that virtually all public schools received federal money. Therefore, if they did not comply they risked losing their federal funding. The passage of Title
IX caused a major uproar in college athletic circles. The
NCAA, the ruling body of college athletics, did everything it could to block the implantation of Title IX. Its reasoning was both logical and irrational. The NCAA reacted to the perceived assault on male domination of sports and also felt the growth of women's athletics would cost money. The NCAA felt, as did most colleges, that it was not just a matter of adding new sports while keeping the old, but that sports programs would be taken away to make room for the new women's programs. In
addition, many colleges did not want to change the status
quo. The NCAA "went so far as to state that the NCAA
thinks the provision for equal opportunity for women in
college sport may signal the end of intercollegiate
athletic programs as we know them" (Hiestand 285).
After this frivolous attempt failed the NCAA tried to
have athletics exempted from Title IX. When that did not
succeed they tried to have the large revenue producing
sports, such as basketball and football, removed from the provisions of Title IX. Despite the continuing opposition women's college athletics began to grow dramatically.
National championships began in several major sports,
especially basketball. In 1982 there were 41 women's national championships in 17 sports with more than 6,000
teams competing from over 1,000 colleges (Woolum). By 1984 participation of female athletes had increased to approximately 80,000 (WSF 32). Because of this increased participation college athletic departments started budgeting more money for women's sports. Athletic budgets for women's sports rose from 1% prior to Title IX to 20% by
1982 (Woolum 16). Total athletic program expenditures went from zero in 1972 to 502,000 in 1981 (Grant 7). By the mid 80's with more women competing and greater financial backing from colleges and university athletic departments women had greater access and better training facilities and equipment and more experienced coaches were hired at better salaries.
All the progress achieved from Title IX came to a screeching halt in 1984. Amazingly a small city college in
Pennsylvania in 1984 was able to achieve what the NCAA and member colleges had been trying to do since 1972-- to put
Title IX out of business (Jones 4). Groves City College refused to sign a Title IX compliance statement not because it intended to discriminate but because it simply did not want to deal with federal regulations. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the college, and for the next four years
Title IX virtually ceased to exist. This ruling, which was supported by the Regan administration, reinterpreted the
Title IX statute stating: "That the only specific programs that receive federal monies with in an educational institution were prohibited form discrimination on the basis of sex" (Jones 6). This is exactly what the NCAA and member colleges had been trying to achieve since the
1970's. To this day many colleges and universities are faced with Title IX complaints and lawsuits. CHAPTER III
THE RE-BIRTH OF TITLE IX
In 1988 Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration
Act, which reaffirmed the original intent of Title IX.
This act reemphasized the need for Title IX and gave the
statute more power by stating: "That the entire
institution was required to be incompliance with the
statute" (Jones 2). Not long after the passage of this law
the NCAA, under the leadership of executive Dick Shultz, began to rethink its position in regard to Title IX. They decided that the time had come to support Title IX. In
1992 a major equity study was instituted, by the NCAA; from
its results the NCAA embarked on a proactive program of
education and enforcement of Title IX. The final brick in the building of the wall of Title IX occurred in 1993 when
the Supreme Court found Brown University guilty of Title IX violations because they had eliminated their women's varsity gymnastics and volleyball programs. This ruling established "that women must make up a percentage of the schools athletic population equal to their percentage of their student body as a whole" (Helderman 1). This ruling finally made colleges and universities wake up to the ility that they could no longer ignore Title IX rea. regulations. CHAPTER IV
TITLE IX AND MEN'S SPORTS
One of the unintended possible consequences of the
implementation of Title IX is subsequent reduction of men's
sports programs. The claim has been made that by
increasing opportunities for women in college sports that
there has been an elimination of men's sports especially
non-revenue programs. Although this assertion makes for a
good argument against Title IX most of the reports have
been based on single incidents and not good studies. The main reason cited for the reduction of men's sports have
been financial. Many universities claim that in order to
add more sports opportunities for women they must use funds
allocated for men's no revenue sports (WSF 6). According
to WSF's gender equity report published in 1998 statistics
do not validate this assumption. In the years 1978- 1996 women gained a net increase of 1,658 sports programs while men showed an increase of 74 (WSF 7). Only NCAA 1-A and 1-
AA programs showed a net lose of 152 programs or 8.4 programs per year (WSF 6). In fact in the same period women sports were added as well as dropped in a proportion similar to men's (WSF 8). - 2,239 women programs were added. but 581 were eliminated. With regard to men 927 new sports programs were added while 853 were eliminated. In summary,
evidence does not support the contention that an increase
in women's programs was accompanied by a significant decrease by men's programs. Unfortunately, there has been
a decrease in division 1-A sports especially in non-revenue
sports (WSF 6). This may or may not be directly related to
the addition of women's sports. It may be easier in large
institutions to eliminate a men's non-revenue sport than to
develop new sources of revenue to not only keep the men's
sport but also to add a new women's sport. Many times when
a men's non-revenue sports program is eliminated the result
is destructive acrimony, pitting the men's non-revenue
sports against women's sports. The university could easily
solve these types of situations by trying to raise new
revenue and reducing excess expenditures on the most expensive men's sports and using the savings to expand opportunities for the non-revenue sports (WSF 7).
Unfortunately, this does not generally occur because of the power of the major sports, i.e., football, basketball, and the inherent bias of the university and its alumni to both women's sports and non-revenue sports. CHAPTER V
WOMEN'S COACHING AND ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATION
A definite unpredicted result of Title IX was
substantial reduction in the number of women's coaches and
athletic administrators. While the average number of
women's sports offered grew after Title IX the number of women coaches decreased. Before Title IX 90% of all
women's college teams were coached by women (Woolum 18).
During the 1990's this number had dropped to 50%. The
reason for this unexpected change was due to the takeover
of the AIWA by the NCAA in 1982, and the merging of men and women's athletic departments.
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for
Women (AIAW) began in 1971 as a branch of the National
Association for Girls and Women in Sport (Jones 2). This organization controlled what women's athletic sports there were prior to Title IX. When Title IX was implemented and as women's athletic programs increased a struggle developed for control of women's athletics between the AIWA and the
NCAA. Prior to 1981 the majority of women's college sports were coached by an administered by women. All championships and tournaments were run by the AIWA. In
10 1981 and 1982 the NCAA was able to take over the AIWA by
usurping the role of national championship sponsor for women's athletics. The NCAA simply took a vote and said
they would offer championships for women- Division 2 and 3
in 1981 and division 1 in 1982(Jones 5). Schools were
required to choose which championship to attend, the NCAA
or the AIWA. Due to the NCAA's greater financial resources
it was able to offer more incentives, i.e., travel
expenses, media attention, and no need to belong to two
organizations. Obviously the NCAA quickly gained control
of all women's championships. In 1982 an agreement between
the NCAA and the AIWA stated that one-third of NCAA
leadership positions would be male, one-third female and
one-third open to both (Jones 4). As Christine Grant, president of the AIWA, stated later, "in reality this became an equation for two-thirds men and one-third women"
(Jones 4). Immediately thereafter women lost control of women's athletics.
After the NCAA takeover many NCAA institutions merged
their separate men and women's athletic departments and put men as head of the department. In 1972 more than 90% of women's programs were directed by a female head administrator; in 1998 only 19.4% of women's programs were
11 directed by women (WSF 27). As Acosta and Carpenter report
"the gender of the administrator often dictates the gender of the coaches hired, i.e. men primarily hire men" (Jones,
3). As the number of women's programs began to increase more men were hired to coach these programs. In addition,
as more financial resources were available, pay for coaching positions of women's sports increased. This
encouraged more men to apply for women's coaching positions. In many cases it has been reported from
athletic directors that they get more applications from men
than women for women's teams coaching jobs especially for marquee sports like basketball.
12 CHAPTER VI
PARTICIPATION
Prior to Title IX participation in college sports among women and men was disproportionate. In 1971, 31,857 women participated in college sports compared to 170,000 men (Riley 2). In 1997 the number of women participating in college sports rose to over 130,000 compared to 200,000 men
(WSF 26). The growth of women's sports reflects colleges and universities attempt at comply with Title IX. Title IX has created a frenzy of female athletes wanting to continue their athletic careers in college. Women's basketball
teams outnumbered men's basketball teams, and women's
soccer was the fastest growing collegiate sport in 1997-
1998 (WSF 28). Student participation in women's sports in
1997-1998 rose 3.5% over the previous season to 135,110.
Participants of men's sports only rose .24% to 203,696 (WSF
26). In 1997-1998 women's basketball had the largest
amount of teams in the NCAA with 956, followed by men's basketball with 938 (WSF, 26). By far women's soccer is
the fastest growing team sport in colleges and universities. In 1997-1998 there were 724 women's
collegiate soccer, teams, 30 more than the
13 year before. Women's soccer has been on the rise for
years, but the rapid growth started during the U.S. team's
dominance of the sport in international competitions,
including the Olympics in 1996 and the World Cup. Top players are now seen as superstars in their own right,
including Mia Hamm in soccer to Sheryl Swoopes to basketball. Young women can identify with these players
and hope to one day be like them. Young women look at the players of colligate sports and professional leagues and
see that they can further their educations and sports
careers through the avenue of collegiate sports. Randy
Waldrum, Notre Dame women's soccer coach, stated, "I don't
think in the women's side of the game it's as important a
deal as it is getting a good education" (Jordan CI). The opportunity to attend and play college sports has attracted many young women to start playing sports. The presence of national championships, international competitions, and professional leagues is also a major factor in the rapid growth in women's sports. Women are making a living playing professional sports and becoming household names by endorsement contracts. In the past five years, corporate
sponsorship of women's sports has more than doubled to $600 million in 1997, compared to $285 million in 1992 (WSF 31).
14 CHAPTER VII
RECRUITMENT & EXPENDITURES
Colleges spend a large amount money on recruitment in order to attract student athletes to their campuses. Many experts have seen the amount of money spent on recruiting women athletes as a measure of the institutional commitment to women's sports and more generally to women as a whole.
In 1992 Division 1-A universities spent 16% of their recruiting budget on women and 84% on men (Grant 3). The
Women's Sports Foundation conducted a survey of colleges and found that across all divisions of the NCAA women's
teams received 26.6% ($16,322,470) of the total
$671,413,179 spent on recruitment. Men's teams, on the other hand, received 72.6% ($44,581,740) of the total, while coed teams garnered less than 1% ($508,970) (WSF 3).
Colleges also spend money on operating expenditures, which include, lodging, meals, transportation, officials, uniforms, and equipment for both home and away games. In
1992 Division 1-A universities spent only 20% of their operating expenditures on women's sports and 80% on men's
sports (Grant 3). In the 1995-1996 year the Women's Sport
Foundation found that this number had increased but only
15 slightly. Across all NCAA divisions, a total of
$554,870,270 was spent on operating expenses for men and women's teams. The men's teams received 73% ($404,960,433) of this total and women's teams were budgeted 27%
($149,909,837) (WSF 30). The operational expenditures were only proportional among men and women's teams in small universities. Women's teams faired the best in Division
III schools with 38% of the total expenditures (WSF 31).
16 CHAPTER VIII
SCHOLARSHIPS
For young adults and their families the presence of a scholarship is their only financial backing to go to college. Scholarships also allow young adults to pursue their passion and skills at the college level. It is estimated that 50,000 men had scholarships prior to Title
IX compared to 50 women (Riley 2). The opportunity for women to receive scholarships in college athletics was almost impossible. For instance, "After winning two gold medals in the 1964 Olympics, swimmer Donna DeVarona could not obtain a college swimming scholarship: for women they were non existent" (Riley 2). The opportunity for scholarships for women was not there because colleges and universities did not allocate funds for women's sports.
Only one percent of athletic budgets in 1970 went to women's sports. During this time women's sports were not a major concern to athletic administrators (Woolum 20). In
1992 28% of all athletic scholarships were given to women
(Grant 3). Results from a survey conducted by the Women's
Sports Foundation found that during the 95-96 year male athletes were given more than their share of college
17 scholarships. Across the NCAA divisions, male athletes received 63% ($354,893,514) of the total $567,164,225 of scholarship allocation. Female athletes received 37%
($212,270,711) of scholarship dollars or $142,622,803 less than their male counterparts (WSF 32). Prior to Title IX many scholarships were just not available. Fortunately, because of Title IX many athletes are able to receive scholarships. For example, many of the 1996 Olympians would not have reached that elite level with out college scholarships. Michele Smith, a softball player on the
Olympic team, was able to further her spots career after attending Oklahoma State on a scholarship. Also Gail
Devers, a star tack runner and the holder of the title of fastest women in the world, furthered her career by attending UCLA on a full scholarship because of Title IX
(Women's Triumphs CI).
18 CHAPTER IX
MEDIA COVERAGE
Prior to Title IX there was little media coverage of
colligate women's athletes. In fact the only media
coverage was individual sports, tennis, skating, gymnastics
and even that was limited. Generally women athletes were
only seen on television in the Olympics. Media coverage
was not about college athletes but on the issue of Title
IX. Because of this many women did not receive the
recognition they deserved. For instance ESPN's list of top
100 athletes of the 20**^ century included three women, #59
Billie Jean King, #69 Bonnie Blair, and #64 Althea Gibson
(WSF 30). In a study at Vanderbilt University, researchers
found that 82% of sport coverage was of men. Women
received 11% and 6% covering both genders in three newspapers: The Tennessean, USA Today, and The New York
Times (WSF 30). In 53 weeks of Sports Illustrated 1996 only four women were placed on the covers. The first three could be characterized as sensationalism: the infamous
swimsuit issue, boxing newcomer Christy Martin, and
Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott. The fourth cover was
from the Olympic preview issue that featured women of the
19 U.S. basketball team. In 1997 three women made the cover: a swimsuit model, Venus Williams and Tamila Wideman who shared the cover with her father. In 1998 four women were featured on the cover: again another model, ice skater
Michelle Kwan, Pat Summit, and Chamique Holdsclaw (WSF 30).
In the past two years several Women's sport publications have been created including Sport's Illustrated
Women/Sport, Jump magazine, and Amy Love's Real Sports.
However Sport's Illustrated Women/Sport only published two
1997 issues, no 1998 issues and didn't re-launch until
spring 1999 (WSF 31). In the TV Guide list of TV's 50
greatest sports moments, only 3 ^ featured women- Torvill &
Dean's gold medal performance at the 1984 Olympics, Keri
Strug's vault at the 1996 Olympics, Bonnie Blair's historic performance at the 1994 Olympics, and Joan Benoit's victory
at the 1^* Olympic Marathon for women in 1984 (WSF 30).
Perhaps the most significant televised sports event to help both the women's movement and women's sports in the 1970's was when Billie Jean King faced Bobby Riggs in what media billed as the "Battle of the Sexes." Billie Jean King's defeat of Bobby Riggs helped change society's view of
women's abilities in sports. The only event that could possibly surpass the tennis match between Billy Jean
20 King and Bobby Riggs is last year's Women's Soccer World
Cup. Media coverage of the Women's Soccer World Cup was greater than any other women's sporting event to date.
ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 signed to telecast all of the 32 games, totaling 64 hours of total coverage (Women's Soccer,
C3). The World Cup final match turned out to be the most watched soccer game in U.S. television history. It posted an 11.4 rating, a 31 share and drew an estimated 40 million viewers (WSF 30).
21 CHAPTER X
MARKETING POWER
Not only has Title IX increased the number of women participants in colligate sports but it has also increased the marketing power of women's sports. Women participate
in most purchasing decisions for men and families as well as their own. More than 50% of women make the decisions to buy sports products (WSF 38). Women comprise only 20% of all golfers but buy 50% of all golf products with the
exception of clubs (WSF 37). Out of a total $33.6 million
spent on sports apparel in 1997, women spent most of the money that goes for females and children's sports apparel, plus 45% of the money that goes for men's. Women control
approximately 75% of total sports apparel dollars (WSF 38).
Women sport consumers are a virtually untapped market. For
year men have controlled marketing of sporting events and products. Men decide what women are interested in and what
they are not. As a result, the sports marketing industry
found it self marketing mainly to men. Eventually the
persistence of marketing to men caused the industry to
become over saturated. Marketers conducted studies and
determined from their research that women were not
22 interested in sports. For example, researchers found that more men read the sports pages than women. Why would women read something that was not marketed to them? Newspapers
sports pages cater to men, the majority of coverage is of men's sports and there is little or none of women's sports.
With the increased interest in sports in the past two decades manufactures have stared offered quality products
designed for women. The female consumer has been ignored
for so long that when a manufacturer comes out with a
serious product and respects a women's point of view, women
respond with appreciation and loyalty. "Danskin, Nike, and
Reebok have already changed their advertising form
portraying women in stereotypical ways to recognizing women
as serious athletes" (WSF 30).
23 CHAPTER XI
SOCIAL RAMIFICATIONS
Title IX changed women's view of themselves and ultimately society's view of them. Prior to Title IX women had few opportunities to expand their sports horizons beyond high school and even there the opportunities were
few. The only female sports heroes were tennis players,
golfers, and some Olympic athletes. These limitations led
to perceptions that women's roles were limited to non
competitive situations, which limited their training in
team building, teamwork, commitment, and leadership. With
the passing of Title IX opportunities for women to compete
in colligate sports especially team sports were increased
dramatically. In 1997 approximately 130,000 women participated in college sports (WSF 31). Each and every
one of these women developed and learned the critical values of sports participation— teamwork, standards,
leadership, discipline, self-sacrifice, and pride and accomplishment. These values not only are important in
sports but are also carried over in their daily lives and professions. "Title IX has made a huge difference in women's capacity to compete in the labor market by opening
24 specific doors and offering them more experiences, says
Abigale Stewart, a professor of Psychology at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and director of the institute for research on women and gender" (Bailey &,
Gallagher 2).
The results have been startling. Women student athletes graduate at a much higher rate of 68% compared to women students in the general population of 58% (WSF 29).
In addition, black female student athletes are graduating at a far higher rate 59% than black female students in the general student body 42% (WSF 29). Currently 80% of female managers of Fortune 500 companies have a sports background
(Grant 5). In 1972 7% of the law degrees and 9% of medical degrees went to women. Today half of all new lawyers and
40% of new doctors are women. In 1976 women earned 6% of engineering degrees; today women earn 19%. 80% of female managers in major corporations create at least part of their success to participation in high school or college athletics (Baily & Gallagher 3). A growing number of women who have participated in college athletics say that their participation made a contribution to their character, their attitude toward work, and their success (Baily & Gallagher,
2) .
25 Not only did the participation of college athletics
help women professionally it has helped them physically.
Studies have shown that women who compete in athletics have
a high rate of physical activity later in life than do
those who did not participate. One out of two women over
60 have osteoporosis. Sports participation may help prevent this disease. Bone mass density has been shown to
be an important factor in preventing osteoporosis. Purdue
University researchers found that women who compete in
sports had a significantly greater bone mass density than
those that did not (WSF 34). "Women who exercise weigh
less, have lower levels of blood sugar, cholesterol,
triglycerides, and have lower blood pressure than non
exercising women. They also report being happier, believe they have more energy, and felt they were in excellent health than non exercising women" (WSF 35). One to three hours of exercise a week has been associated with a 20%-30% reduction in the risk of breast cancer and more or four hours of exercise a week can reduce this risk by more than
60%. Women who participate in athletics are 80% less likely to have unwanted pregnancies, 92% less likely to be on drugs, and are three times more likely to graduate (WSF,
33) .
26 CHAPTER XII
CONCLUSION
The purpose of Title IX was to provide women the mechanism to achieve gender equity not only in sports but also in educations and in all aspects of society.
Considering the key elements of Title IX— women's participation in sports, employment opportunities, and the
availability of resources women have made tremendous gains
in those areas mandated by the law. However, those
employment opportunities that did not fall under the law, athletic administration, were reduced. Unfairness still
exists but the situation is improving. Approximately of
80% of women's programs are run by men but 33% employed within women's athletic programs are women. That percentage has been climbing since the 1980's (Jones 6).
The progress of Title IX in women's athletics began to reach its peak at the 1996 Olympics. Keri Strug, a future
Title IX recipient, thrilled the crowd with her dramatic vault that clinched the first women's gymnastic team gold medal for the United States. The star of the American gold medal softball team. Dot Richardson, had not been allowed
to play little league baseball unless she agreed to cut her
27 hair and be called Bob. By the time she was ready for college Title IX had changed things so much that she could obtain a scholarship to UCLA to play softball (Women's,
Triumphs 1). She became a four time all American and began a path that led her to the Olympics and a future career as an Orthopedic surgeon. The women's basketball dream team, all Title IX recipients, packed the Georgia Dome when going
for gold against Brazil. Swimmer Amy VanDyken, a scholarship athlete at the University of Arizona, became the first US woman to win four gold medals at any Olympics.
After her victory Amy VanDyken stated, "I've probably
reached the pinnacle of my career. Everything else from now on is going to be icing on the cake" (Women's Triumphs,
2) .
The icing on the cake for women's athletics would
continue in 1997 with the formation of the Women's National
Basketball Association (WNBA) made up of former NCAA female
athletes. The opening WNBA game was televised on national
TV on June 1^^ 1997 and drew a 3.7 television rating and a
crowd of 11,551 as the New York Liberty defeated the Las
Angeles Sparks (WSF 35). The WNBA ended its first season
drawing more than one million fans and averaging 9,699 fans per game. In its second season the WNBA averaged more than
28 10,000 fans per game a figure that the NBA took twenty-nine
seasons to achieve (WSF 35).
Title IX reached its pinnacle on July 10, 1999 at the
Women's World Cup soccer final. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon the United States women's national team, made of
former college athletes, defeated China 2-1 in overtime before 90,000-plus screaming fans. This was the largest
number of fans at a women's sporting event ever. What was
fascinating about the crowd was that there was large
numbers of male spectators attending with their daughters.
The game ended dramatically when Brandi Chastain kicked the
winning goal in overtime and removed her jersey, as is
common in men's soccer. Women's sports arrived that day.
29 Trends in Participation of Women's Athletics of NCAA Div-1
1,000,000
100,000 ni-A • 1-AA
CO nl-AAA 10,000 Female Female Undergraduates Undergraduate Athletes 1998-1999
30 The Chronicle of Higher Education April 7,2000 NCAA Athletics Participation 1971-1997
a, 250,000 « 1 200,000 2 150,000 Men Women 2 100,000 Q) f 50,000 3 2 0 c<^ .^ J 5S- C^ 0)^ (^ 'VN 31 Women's Sports Foundation compiled from data provided by the NCAA, March 1998 Changes in NCAA Women's Participants From 1995-96 6000 i2 5000 c (0 4000 a 3000 Series 1 •c re 2000 Q. 1000 0 1—I—\—r ^ o ^^ 32 Women's Sport Foundation compiled from data provided by the NCAA 1997 Scholarship Dollar Allocation by NCAA in 1995- 1996 37% Men Women 63% 33 Women's Sports Foundation compiled from data provided by NCAA, March 1 998 I Scholarship Dollar Allocation by NCAA in 1998- 1999 Women 42% • Women DMen The Chronicle of Higher Education April 7, 2000. 34 Coaches of NCAA Women's Teams DMen • Women 1972 1998 35 Women's Sports Foundation Gender Equity Report 1998 Proportion of Salaries Spent on Women's Teams in NCAA Div-1 $2,600,000 $2,100,000 $1,600,000 $1,100,000 $600,000 $55,120/ $100,000 Women Coaches All Coaches Total Average Women Total Budget Budget Coaches Salary 36 The Chronicle of Higher Education April 7, 2000 Average Recruiting Budget of NCAA Div-1 1998 1999 $500,000 $400,000 $300,000 $200,000 $100,000 $0 Women Both Recruiting Budget 37 The Chronicle of Higher Education April 7. 2000 Average Operating budget of NCAA Div-1 1998 1999 $25,000,000 $20,000,000 $15,000,000 $10,000,000 $5,000,000 $0 Women Gender Specific Total Operating Budget 38 The Chronicle of Higher Education April 7, 2000 Total Expenses of IVten's & Women's Div 1-A Atiiletic Programs 9 ^^WWMfBfHffWfWffffMWW^^W^^WMffiW^B^^ 8 7 6 (0 DMen = 5 • Women • Administration 3 2 1 0 1972 1981 1985 1989 1993 Women's Sports Foundation Title Ix Gender Equity 1995 39 Christine Grant Treatment of Women's Teams: IHow NCAA Divisions Compare :;:B!ijia!!lffl!IMH!|gM! i:!!HSHIHIH(!lfflilJ SPHHHHP 120% D Proportion of athletes who are female • Proportion of undergraduates who are female l-AA 1-AAA Participation 40 The Chronicle: Athletics May 21, 1999 Sherrie Good. Treatment of Women's Teams: How NCAA Divisions Compare !!H:l:H:;l|jl:l|f!J|aiHIJ:!',j'l',M:|jfB^^ • Propoilion of undergraduates who are female n Proportion of athletes who are female 1-A 1-AA 1-AAA All Scholarships 41 The Chronicle: Athletics May 21, 1999 Shenle Good Sports Careers By Gender 1996 c O 2 £ M C O IS tf>o Q. Career Womens Sports Foundation 42 1998 Bibliography Bailey, Rudy L and Gallagher, John. "Girls ride Title IX to success as women." Free Press Business Writers. 9 July 1999. 1-4. "Gender Equality in Athletics." The Chronicle of Higher Education. 7 April 2000. A53-A57. Good, Sherry. "Athletics." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 May 1999. A46. Grant, Christine. "Title IX and Gender Equity." NACWAA Fall Forum, NACWAA Convention. Cedar Rapids, lA, 25 September 1995. 1-13. Helderman, Rosalind. "Advances in Athletic Equality Progress.' University Wire, 23 January 1998. 1-7. Hiestand, Deborah. "1982 Women in Sports in the United States 1945-1978," Her story in sport. Ed. Reet Howell. West Point, NY: Leisure Press. 294-329. Jones, C.L. "Title IX Twenty Five Years of Struggle." Contemporary Women, March 1997. 1-16. Jordan, Ray. "Soccer Gold Bolsters What Title IX began." St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 13 August 1996: CI. Riley, Richard. U.S. Department of Education. "Title IX 25 years of Progress." June 1997. 1-4. 43 "Women's soccer getting a Kick out of Sales." The Toronto Star 11 February 1999: C3. Women's Sports Foundation. "Gender Equity Report." 1998. 1-38. "Women's Triumphs: Two Decades in the Making." USA Today. 3 August 1996: CI. Woolum, Janet. "Chapter 1 Women in American Sports." Outstanding Women Athletes: Who they are and how they influenced sports in America. Vol. 1. 8 May 1992. 1-31. 44