When Title IX of the Education Amendments was signed into law on June 23, 1972, the text of the legislation said, “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.”
If one reads the law decades later, it’s understandable to wonder if something might be missing from it. What is now widely regarded as the most transformative measure in the history of women’s athletics in the United Statescontains no mention of sports.
Its impact on the fields and courts of competition, though, has been pervasive.
Fifty years after its passage, Title IX has reshaped American sports in profound, unmistakable and beneficial ways, from elementary schools to the highest levels of competition. Athletic endeavors once practically or explicitly unavailable to women are now widely accessible to them. Previously unthinkable opportunities to play in college and professionally have emerged. Role models have showcased what’s possible to younger generations.
Throughout its history, however, it has faced a slew of legal challenges and larger, existential threats. In the modern American athletic landscape, the limitations of the law can seem just as visible as its successes, with the institutions tasked with upholding Title IX too often finding ways around it and causing it to fall short of its immense promise.
Fifty years into its existence, Title IX’s effect on gender equity in athletics and its current role in American sports remain as crucial and closely observed as ever.
“It’s been an unbelievably important law for young girls and women to gain confidence in their bodies,” said Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and professor at Arizona State’s School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies. “To have an equal opportunity to participate in school sports and that being defined as a fundamental civil right in this country has been hugely important in so many different ways.”
‘It’s been a big change’
The memories of an unrecognizable world remain fresh in the minds of many women in sports. To them, the past is only so distant.
Carol Sprague, a former senior associate athletic director and senior women’s administrator at Pitt, can remember when her brother started to play Little League baseball in the pre-Title IX era. She wanted to play, as well, and when she asked her father why she couldn’t, he simply said he didn’t know. Heather Lyke, Pitt’s current athletic director, can recall stories from her mother about her athletic experiences growing up, when her high-school basketball team would practice all year long for a single game, and even once that contest arrived, only one player on each squad was able to run the full length of the court. When Lyke herself became an athlete and told her mother about her high school’s facilities setup — with the boys using the 11th and 12th grade gym while the girls used the less glamorous ninth and 10th grade gym — she was given a small dose of perspective.
“My mom was like, ‘Oh, Heather, you’re lucky you have a gym,'” Lyke said.
When assessing the effectiveness of Title IX, such stories are helpful in measuring progress.
Statistics have reflected that sweeping change. In 1978, Time magazine reported nearly six times as many girls were playing high school sports than they were six years earlier. During the 2018-19 school year, 3.4 million girls played high school sports, up from 294,015 in 1971-72, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations. From 1982-2021, according NCAA data, female participation in college sports increased by 195% while the number of women’s teams rose by 125%.
Anecdotally, it has opened doors for female athletic excellence. The accomplishments of the United States women’s national soccer team, gymnasts like Simone Biles and basketball superstars like Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Candace Parker — to say nothing of some of the legendary figures that preceded them — would likely not have been possible without Title IX.
That increased participation has molded public opinion on the role of women in sports, a subject once widely marred by sexist tropes. Polling earlier this year from the Pew Research Center found 63% of people familiar with Title IX say it has had a positive impact on gender equity in the United States, compared to 17% who say it has had a negative impact.
“When it’s passed into law, we see its greatest immediate impact is on women’s athletics because the discrimination there is so obvious. The access is so limited or non-existent,” said Liann Tsoukas, a history professor at Pitt who has studied Title IX extensively. “The notions that women don’t want to play sport or aren’t athletic or shouldn’t be athletic or their bodies can’t handle that, all of that is thrown out on the table and reinvestigated. That’s where we see Title IX actually unroll and evolve. It happens quickly.”
In recent years, Title IX’s reach has evolved.
