Title IX

The Host: Hello everybody and welcome back to our Student Affairs Podcast Series. My name is Daniel Pinto and I will be your host today. On this episode of our podcast series, you'll be listening to interviews with two really interesting people, experts in their field, and a bit less of me and my voice.

Dr. David W. Parrott has a history of leadership in higher education. He’s served in administration at the University of Louisville, University of Florida, Texas A&M; University, Western Michigan University, and Western Kentucky University. He’s held positions such as vice president, interim vice president, executive associate vice president and chief of staff, dean of students, Title IX/ADA coordinator, and director of residence life.

Also, we are joined by Sarah Mudd who is a Student Affairs practitioner with 15 years-experience in a variety of functional areas including housing, student conduct, Title IX, disability support services, student activities, and new student orientation. Sarah has worked on small and large campuses including Texas A&M; University, Baylor University, Anderson University, Midway University, and the University of Louisville. Sarah is a doctoral candidate at the University of Kentucky studying Educational Policy and Evaluation with research focused on democratic education and free speech. She earned her Master of Education in Higher Education Administration, Student Affairs at Texas A&M; University. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Belmont University and a graduate certificate in Research Methods in Education from UK. How are you both today?

The Host: Our listeners will probably appreciate the things they will learn about Title IX, so let's get to the main and first question: What is Title IX?

Davit Parrott/Sarah Mudd: It is a federal statute signed into law by President Richard Nixon on June 23, 1972 – making this year the 50th anniversary.  While it is commonly cited as Title IX, it is also known as the Patsy Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act.  On October 29, 2002 following her death one month prior, Title IX was renamed the “Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act” in honor of its major author, Congresswoman Mink.

The plain language of the statute is:  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.

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex to include sexual harassment, access to programs and activities, and inequity in athletics.

The Host: Thank you for providing the background of the law. it is very important to know. It's great that almost every university has a department that fights gender discrimination, however going back to the role of Title IX on campus how does Title IX affect me?

Davit Parrott/Sarah Mudd: Title IX and associated statutes require universities to provide preventive sexual violence education, to appoint a Title IX Coordinator, to articulate policies prohibiting sexual Harassment and to provide a process to investigate and adjudicate complaints.  In addition to addressing sexual harassment, there are 4 ways Title IX helped expand women’s access to higher education in the USA.

  1. Women have more opportunities to play college sports.

    Title IX has received the most attention for its impact on athletics at educational institutions.

    Historically, university support for women’s sports was sorely lacking. In 1971–72, fewer than 30,000 women participated in college sports, compared to more than 170,000 men. Women received only 2% of schools’ athletic budgets, and athletic scholarships for women were basically nonexistent.

    By 2010–11, more than 190,000 women played sports at their university, a 600% increase over 4 decades. Women now also received 48% of total athletic scholarships funds for Division I schools (the highest level of college sports in the USA).

    Expanding athletics gave women more opportunities to play sports, to receive financial support for their education, and to build valuable leadership and teamwork skills.

    Female former student-athletes regularly outperform other college graduates on important career and life outcomes and are highly represented among businesswomen at the executive level. They also earn more on average than their non-athlete peers.

  2. More women earn university degrees.

    Before Title IX, many colleges and professional schools limited the number of women that could attend or excluded them entirely.

    Some required women to have higher test scores and better grades than male applicants. Many scrutinized women’s applications under the assumption that they were more interested in marriage and children, and therefore more likely to drop out.

    The late 1970s up to the early 21st century marked a “quiet revolution” of women in the labor force, according to Claudia Goldin of Harvard University. Young women began to anticipate long and continuous careers that would not be cut short by having a family. They invested more in their education and prepared for higher status careers.

    In 1950, only one-quarter of undergraduate students were women. Today, women make up the majority of enrolled college students and bachelor’s degree earners in the USA. A greater proportion of American women complete undergraduate degrees.

  3. Women are eligible for more financial support.

    As with athletic scholarships, many women were denied critical financial assistance.

    Women were not eligible for prestigious awards, like the Rhodes Scholarship. Men were also given preference in other scholarships, fellowships and loans. Title IX broadened women’s access to financial support and other awards, giving them more opportunities to pursue higher education and follow their dreams.

  4. Women can study whatever they want

    Girls were often segregated into “softer” classes as early as elementary school. Universities could exclude women from certain fields, such as science and engineering, on the notion that these were “unsuitable” for women. They often limited women’s options to teaching, nursing or home economics. Title IX made such exclusions and segregated tracking illegal.

    Before Title IX, most medical and law schools limited the number of women to 15 or fewer per school. In 1972, women earned only 7% of all law degrees and 9% of all medical degrees; they now earn nearly half of all degrees in both areas. Women have also gained ground in many STEM subjects, especially in biological, environmental and chemical/materials sciences.

    Opening all academic fields has allowed women to study degrees that best match with their interests and plan careers according to their true aspirations.

The Host: Definitely true, gradually the stereotypical image of the housewife is disappearing and now we can see how many women are achieving great success, and it is also true that now a huge number of scholarships are allocated to women's sports that allow them to continue to develop and achieve not only high results in sports but also in their studies.

Davit Parrott/Sarah Mudd:There is extensive reporting information on the Title IX website: https://louisville.edu/titleix/

Complaints can be reported to the Title IX Coordinator or Assistant Title IX Coordinator and will be routed to Deputy Title IX Coordinators as follows:

Deputy Coordinators:

The Host: Well, I think it was amazingly interesting and useful for everyone. Thank you so much to our guests for coming and telling us so much new information. I hope that we will meet again and discuss other aspects about Title IX. Thanks again!

And for our listeners: for more information about student services, go to https://louisville.edu/studentaffairs

Did you know that if you need assistance and don't know where to go, you can contact the Dean of Students office at https://louisville.edu/dos or go to the ConcernCenter website at https://louisville.concerncenter.com. The website has a directory of all resources on campus. If you aren’t sure where to start, you can always search by your issue (for example, test anxiety) and all relevant resources will be provided.

Please don’t forget that there is a celebration of the intersection between writing and visual art. UofL presents a display of prints created by students in ART 541, 543, and 642. The celebration will occur on April 25 at 4 p.m. at Ekstrom Library, Room 132. Last but, not least, we would like to give a shout out to the Multicultural Association of ProHealth Students (MAPS) for holding a donut sale to raise money for the Americana Center in Louisville. That is all for today. Hopefully you enjoyed this podcast episode as much as I did. Please come back for more interesting information next week. Take care!

A Department of STUDENT AFFAIRS

Student Affairs

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University of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky 40292

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