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Gender Equity in UC Davis Athletics
Fact sheet: Title IX
What is Title IX?
Title IX, renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in honor of its principal author, was the first comprehensive federal law to prohibit sex discrimination in educational programs or activities, including intercollegiate athletics, at educational institutions receiving federal funds. Part of the Education Amendments of 1972 to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it reads as follows:
"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."
A Policy Interpretation issued by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education provides colleges and universities with guidance on how to comply with the law when it comes to athletics. It explains obligations with regard to participation; other benefits such as equipment, scheduling and coaching; and scholarships.
Who enforces Title IX?
The Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education enforces Title IX. The office has authority to develop policy on the regulations it enforces. In regard to athletics programs, OCR issued an Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Interpretation in 1979.
What does Title IX require?
Title IX requires that institutions that receive federal funding provide equal opportunities for members of both sexes. It addresses the availability, quality and kind of benefits, and the opportunities and treatment that athletes receive.
An institution must:
- provide an equal opportunity for female and male students to become intercollegiate athletes, based on a three-part test; and
- provide equivalent treatment of participants in the overall women's program as compared to the overall men's program.
What does Title IX not require?
Institutions are not required to:
- offer an athletics program;
- offer a good athletics program;
- provide the same funding to the overall women's and men's programs;
- provide the same funding to men's and women's teams in the same sport;
- provide specific benefits such as equipment, coaching, facilities or scheduling;
- provide specific benefits to a specific team;
- offer a specific number of teams;
- offer the same number of teams for men and women;
- offer the same sports for men and women;
- provide the same benefits to men's and women's teams in the same sport;
- compete at a specific level; or
- join a specific conference
How is compliance assessed in intercollegiate athletics?
Title IX permits institutions some flexibility in achieving compliance. There is a three-part test regarding participation opportunities, and an institution must satisfy only one measure:
- provide opportunities for male and female athletes to participate at the intercollegiate level proportionate to their full-time undergraduate enrollments; or
- show an ongoing record of expanding the program for the underrepresented sex; or
- demonstrate that its existing program accommodates the interests and abilities of members of the underrepresented sex.
Test one: How does Title IX calculate participation proportionate to enrollment?
Participation opportunities for men and women must be "substantially proportionate" to their respective rates of enrollment among full-time undergraduates.
Participants are defined as those athletes receiving institutional support normally provided to athletes; participating in organized practice sessions and other team meetings; and on the eligibility lists maintained for the sport; or, because of injury, failing to meet the first three conditions but continuing to receive financial aid on the basis of athletic ability.
Depending on the overall number of participants, a difference of two to five percentage points between the rates of participation opportunity and enrollment can be acceptable. According to the Office for Civil Rights 1996 Policy Clarification, test one is met if the number of women to be added to achieve proportionality is fewer than the number needed for a viable women's team of average size.
Test two: What counts as program expansion for the underrepresented sex?
Program expansion is defined as an increase in the number of opportunities, which may result from creating a new women's team or by adding opportunities on existing teams. Program expansion is not achieved by improvements in the quality of opportunities or an increase in the percentage of opportunities. The increase must be in women's athletic participation numbers, not as a result of reducing men's participation opportunities.
The Office for Civil Rights considers the following to determine a continuing practice of program expansion:
- implementation of a policy or procedure for requesting the addition of sports and its communication to students;
- implementation of an expansion plan that is responsive to developing interests and abilities; and
- efforts to assess interests and abilities and to respond to the results generated.
Test three: What constitutes full accommodation of the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex?
This test is met by offering every sport for women for which there is sufficient interest and ability for a viable team and sufficient intercollegiate competition in the institution's normal competitive region.
The three factors of interests, ability and competition include consideration of:
- participation in on-campus and off-campus sports programs;
- the institution's normal recruitment area;
- ability levels; and
- the available competition within the normal competitive region.
What other athletic benefits and opportunities does Title IX consider?
Also considered are:
- athletic scholarships;
- recruitment of student athletes;
- equipment and supplies;
- scheduling of games and practices;
- support services
- travel and per diem allowances;
- tutoring;
- coaches;
- locker rooms and other facilities;
- medical and training services;
- housing and dining services; and
- publicity
Do the dollars spent on men's and women's programs have to be equal?
Title IX does not require equal funding or dollar-for-dollar matching in the women's and men's programs. It does not prohibit private funding, revenue production or fundraising. However, whatever benefits are provided for student-athletes -- regardless of the fund source -- are viewed as Title IX benefits.
To the extent that a college or university provides athletic scholarships, it is required to provide rates of awards substantially proportionate to rates of participation by members of each sex. Awarding dollars proportional to participation is a compliance target, not a requirement, for recruitment.
Compliance with most other program components is determined by the tangible benefits provided to the students -- for example, the quality of equipment, coaching staff and modes of transportation -- and not the dollar amount spent for each benefit.
Sources: Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics: How It All Works -- In Plain English by Valerie McMurtrie Bonnette, co-author of the federal Office for Civil Rights' 1990 Title IX Athletics Investigator’s Manual; and "Requirements Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972," U.S. Department
Last updated August 23, 2007