Opinion Pieces

"Good news for women in sports, yet much work remains"

By Peter Roby

On Friday, the Department of Education decided to leave the existing standards for complying for Title IX in place, ending months of speculation about the effects of the findings of the secretary’s possessive commission released last February. Following the decision by the First District Federal Court to throw out a case brought forward by the National Wrestling Coaches Association — which claimed that their programs, teams and very profession was threatened by Title IX — this news seems at first glance to bode well for the state of women’s and collegiate athletics. Yet, 30 years after Title IX was enacted, there are still barriers to be toppled for women and minorities in sports.

Many of us witness the triumphs of female athletes — including Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Marion Jones, Serena and Venus Williams and the UConn women’s basketball team — and marvel at the achievements of female athletes of color, believing perhaps that the playing field has finally been leveled. These remarkable “exceptions” lead some to conclude that affirmative action and Title IX are now being used to “reverse” discriminate against whites and males, as the wrestling coaches believe. That sentiment, however, is wholly untrue. And it is on this dangerous path that we have found. Title IX in a vulnerable and threatened position from a societal, if not legal perspective. Last spring’s Department of Education report offered clear and convincing evidence of Title IX’s momentum over the past three decades.

Secretary Paige then established a commission last year to review the efficacy and necessity of Title IX, which found that, in fact, the Title IX programs are indeed working, albeit slowly. And yet, two glaring problems remain: although 30 years have passed since its establishment, women still lack equal opportunities and, secondly, gains made disproportionately benefit white girls and women, mainly in suburban enclaves. Title IX must be made stronger.

First, some important and overlooked numbers: According to the NCAA, 42.1 percent of student-athletes in all divisions are women, yet only 8.6 percent are young women of color. With Title IX in place for more than 30 years, these numbers have increased but are still quite low.

While modest gains have also been made for women in collegiate athletic administration, women of color again have again been left out. Within all three divisions of the NCAA, 17 percent of college athletic directors are female, yet only 1.7 percent (15 out of 885) are women of color. In senior administrative posts (associate and assistant athletic directors), 34 percent were women, yet only 3.2 percent were women of color. Nearly all of men’s sports programs in Divisions I, II, and III are coached by men while less than half (only 42.5 percent) of the women’s sports head coaching positions were filled by women. More incredibly, women of color filled only 4 percent of these posts.

Nearly all current professional and collegiate coaches and athletic administrators are former student-athletes themselves. One of the dangers of “rolling back” Title IX is that women of color will be further excluded in athletic administrative and coaching positions on the collegiate and professional level in a very simple, negative progression.

It is also important to acknowledge that racial segregation occurs in women’s sports at the collegiate level. Currently, women of color only represent 18.7 percent of all female student-athletes in all divisions. More than half (52.1 percent) of the total female student-athletes of color compete in two sports: basketball and cross country/track. The greatest level of segregation exists in Division I, where the majority of scholarships are available. Women of color represent 24.3 percent of all female student-athletes in Division I, and 62.6 percent of all female student-athletes of color compete in those same two sports.

Sports participation for girls in urban settings is at an obscenely low level, despite three decades of Title IX. According to the Play Across Boston report, a collaboration between Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society and Harvard’s School of Public Health, girls participate in sports at half the rate of boys in the City of Boston. Some 65 percent of boys participate in sports, as opposed to 33 percent of girls. Clearly the effects of Title IX have not trickled down into our urban communities, in Boston and beyond.

Various studies point to the benefits of sports on students’ educational and psychological health. They are less likely to use drugs. They fare far better academically — are less likely to drop out, get better grades, do better on standardized tests and are more likely to go on to college — than their non-athlete peers. After school sports decrease deviant after school behavior. Women who participate in sports are less likely to become pregnant. And athletics help curb the nation’s ongoing battle with childhood obesity.

The impact of Title IX does more than provide girls and women with an opportunity to play — it gives society a generation of female leaders, world-class athletes, and role models for young girls. While Title IX has allowed for modest gains and contributed to the development of women in this country, the trickle-down benefits are still beginning. Now is the time to pack Title IX with even more punch so that the benefits to girls and women continue, and opportunities for women of color in particular start to improve. Being involved in sports is more than just good fun — it’s a chance to sharpen physical and mental skills, for boys and girls, men and women, and for people of all races. We must ensure that everyone has a chance to benefit from them — Title IX must go farther, wider, longer to ensure that everyone does.

Peter Roby is director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society.