Good Example Of Essay On Gender Equity In Sport

Introduction

In the year 1972, the United States congress implemented Title IX and incorporated it as part of programs in higher education. The Title IX was a critical federal law and prohibited any form of gender based discrimination in federally funded academic programs or activities. The core function of Title IX was to regulate the use federal funds so that they could not be used to promote gender discrimination as well as shield the prone citizens against such discriminatory practices. It has faced a lot of resistance during the process of its implementation. For instance, immediately after it was passed, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and administrators in high schools argued that games for boys would be greatly affected if they were to be equally funded like those of girls. However Title IX has helped females pursue their dreams in University of Massachusetts.
For any institution to comply with the Title IX, it needs to meet some basic requirements. One such requirement is the need for provision of proportional participation opportunities based on the enrollment rates for both male and female full-time undergraduates. It also requires full and effective accommodation of abilities and interests of underrepresented gender. To some extent, University of Massachusetts has tried to comply with this requirement. The total number of undergraduates in the academic year 2013/2014 was 20,384. This comprised of 10, 557 men and 9, 827 women. Since there was higher number of enrollment of males, this was expected to be reflected in sports participation. This expected outcome was well reflected by the proportional participation on the day of first contest. This is because 335 males participated and only 292 female students participated in the contest.
It is also a basic requirement that both male and female undergraduates receive equal treatment. However, Title IX does not require that sports for both males and female receive equal athletics related financial aid and recruiting expenditures unless it is a scholarship. It takes into account that there are usually differences in expenditures related to gender. For example, cost of purchasing equipment or managing an event may differ significantly depending on the gender targeted. In University of Massachusetts, the budgetary requirement for males is higher than that of females. This may have been brought up by such factors as mentioned above. In a conclusion, although the university has tried to comply with the Title IX requirements, there is still more that needs to be done especially in the department of staffing and staff compensation.

Reference list

Ruckman, M. S. (2014). COMPLIANCE WITH TITLE IX AMONG HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 2003 AND 2010. Journal Of Intercultural Disciplines, 147-26.
Rose, D. (2015). Regulating Opportunity: Title IX and the Birth of Gender-Conscious Higher Education Policy. Journal Of Policy History, 27(1), 157-183. doi:10.1017/S0898030614000396