🎉 🎂 Happy 44th birthday to Title IX! 🎂 🎉
Pop quiz! In which of the following areas does Title IX help ensure gender equity?
A. Fairness in school admissions
B. Access to athletics
C. Protection from sexual harassment and sexual assault
D. Opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
E. All of the above
If you answered E, you are correct!
Many people think that Title IX exclusively addresses gender equity in school athletics, but the law has a much broader focus.
Signed into law on June 23, 1972, Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program or activity — public or private — when it comes to receiving federal funds.
The law applies to every aspect of educational activities from preschool through higher education, including admissions, recruitment, academics, employment, athletics, and student services.
Title IX is widely recognized for its role in the huge growth of women’s athletic programs, but imagine if we made as much progress inthe other aspects Title IX covers as we have with sports.
That women and girls still face discrimination on campus is why it’s so important to spread the word that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights recently released three sorely needed tools: a letter to schools reiterating the importance of Title IX coordinators, a thank-you letter directly to coordinators reaffirming their roles, and a free resource manual to guide their actions. Every school is required to appoint a Title IX coordinator to help prevent discrimination at her or his school, but before now the coordinators had few resources to do their jobs. And many schools haven’t appointed a coordinator at all.
The Office for Civil Rights has provided schools and Title IX coordinators with resources they need to independently act and address complaints, just in time for school to start. But we need you to help spread the word.
Obama Administration Releases New Guidance to Ensure the Civil Rights of Transgender Students
Every student has the right to access education without fear of harassment!
How Women and Girls Are Marching Toward Equity in Sports
Tthe United States has a long way to go in order to achieve gender equity in sports. Girls have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than boys have and are offered only 43 percent of the opportunities to play sports in college. Despite the passage of Title IX, many girls and young women lack access to safe practice conditions, appropriate equipment, reliable transportation to and from games, and the funds needed to participate in organized athletics. These setbacks cause girls to drop out of sports at twice the rate that boys do.
Though there’s still much more work to be done, it’s important to celebrate the recent progress that has been made in women’s sports. Here are a few of the most notable recent wins for women athletes.
U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Dominates
Wins: In 2015 the U.S. women’s national soccer team became national heroes after their show-stopping performance in the Women’s FIFA World Cup broke television ratings records. Team members were featured in advertisements and Alex Morgan became the first woman on the cover of EA Sports’ FIFA video game. Even President Barack Obama commented on how “badass” this team is.
Losses: Despite the team’s accomplishments and the overall increase in popularity of women’s soccer, the general media coverage of women’s sports remains depressing. In 2014, ESPN’s SportsCenter dedicated just 2 percent of its airtime to women’s sports. Additionally, compared to their male counterparts, women soccer players are paid significantly less and exposed to poor practice conditions. Abby Wambach, the team’s former captain, was paid far less in her career than her male peers were, despite having scored more goals than any man or woman in professional soccer history.
Serena Williams Continues to Crush It
Wins: Williams was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year in 2015, making her the first woman in more than three decades to nab the title as well as the first solo woman of color to ever hold the honor. As the number one women’s tennis player in the world, Williams earns more than $13 million in endorsements and is a trailblazer for women athletes all over the world. She continues to empower girls and women, especially women of color, every step of the way.
Losses: Even with her many achievements, Williams often receives harsh media criticism about her body image and physique. Williams is also subjected to limitations on her ability to obtain endorsements and is paid less than professional male tennis players. Her endorsements fade in comparison to male tennis stars like Rafael Nadal, who made $28 million over the last year, and Roger Federer, who was paid $58 million in endorsements.
Women Coaches Gain Visibility
Wins: It’s no secret that there is a lack of women’s representation and visibility in major sports, but a few coaches are challenging the traditional notion of what it takes to be a leader and coach in men’s professional leagues. Across the country, women are getting hired to coach men’s professional sports teams. Last year, Jen Welter became the first female assistant coaching intern in the NFL and Kathryn Smith was hired as the league’s first full-time woman coach.
Losses: Even with the progress that has been made in hiring women coaches, professional leagues have a long way to go to reach gender equity. Women lack serious leadership roles in professional sports leagues across the board and remain vastly underrepresented on the coaching staff of both men’s and women’s professional teams.
Women’s Hockey League Is Finally a Thing
Wins: In case you missed it: There is now a professional women’s hockey league in the United States. That’s right; for the first time ever, professional women’s hockey players will be paid for their talents on the ice. This is big!
Losses: As in other women’s sports, reaching equality in athletics doesn’t just stop with the creation of a league. Women hockey players face one of the most dramatic pay disparities in professional sports, with the typical player being paid a meager average annual salary of just $15,000. Hilary Knight, one of the most talented and experienced players in the National Women’s Hockey League, will be paid only $22,000 this season. This salary is just a quarter of 1 percent of what Patrice Bergeron, the highest-paid player on the Boston Bruins, will make this year. Ouch.
The recent achievements of women in sports show that women athletes are no longer sitting on the sidelines. But even my beloved March Madness has a long way to go to reach equity for women’s athletics. AAUW found a significant pay gap between coaches of men’s and women’s basketball teams, and a gender pay gap among graduates from nearly all the schools competing.
Title IX is best known for helping to ensure gender equity in athletics, but the law goes deeper than sports, preventing sexual discrimination in all areas of education. Title IX requires that every school designate at least one employee to coordinate the school’s compliance; however, many coordinators don’t have the resources to do their job effectively. In some cases, many don’t know they’ve been assigned the role. Help AAUW enforce this critical law by pledging to deliver resources from the U.S. Department of Education to your school’s Title IX coordinator.
This blog was written by AAUW Senior Program Association of Campus Leadership Programs Paige Robnett.
Source: bit.ly
These Are the Feminist Valentines You Were Looking For
Along with roses and chocolates, Valentine’s Day comes with a deluge of tired, patriarchal, and heterosexist clichés. But don’t fret! Our feminist valentines are just what your activist heart desires.
Help spread the love! Be sure to share your favorites on Facebook or Twitter.
For the diehard Spice Girls fan (girl power!)
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Because who doesn’t love Stevie Wonder … and repro rights!
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Wait, you mean Title IX isn’t what Meat Loaf was singing about?
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And just in case the message wasn’t clear …
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Want more feminist gems? Connect with AAUW on social media!
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Color Coded Sports: Debunking Stereotypes for Women Athletes of Color
At my predominantly white, parochial high school, there was a running joke among my peers: To determine the number of black students enrolled there, one simply needed to look at the football, basketball, and track team yearbook photos. Though stated in jest, this sentiment is the epitome of the one-track narrative that stereotypes and confines African American athletes.
At the same time, African Americans have long used athletics as a form of protest — from silently raising their fists for civil rights on Olympic podiums to calling for equal pay in prize money. Here are three ways we can expand the perception of black Americans in sports and continue celebrating their legacies.
1. Understand that physique alone does not guarantee athletic success.
According to Serena Williams, the number one women’s tennis player in the world, “Tennis is 70 percent mental. I won most of my matches — probably all of my Grand Slams — from upstairs, not anything else,” she says, pointing to her brain. Yet some critics have attributed her success to her muscular physique, trivializing the mental fortitude necessary to endure long training regimens, perform well under pressure, and strategize victory. Williams’ build undoubtedly helps her achieve the agility, flexibility, and strength necessary to perform in the same way that Michael Phelps’ body structure helps him swim at record-breaking speeds. But Williams’ excellence, manufactured from both mental and physical power, rebels against ideas that minimize the success of women athletes with bodies that do not meet mainstream definitions of beauty, a practice that disproportionately affects women of color and limits their ability to obtain endorsements.
2. Include and invest in women of color in the sciences.
From designing sports products to building a burgeoning market of smart technology and mobile apps around exercise and athletics, scientists play a powerful role in aiding athletes. AAUW research shows that when women are included in the technical design process behind these products, the devices are better able to meet women-specific needs. A critical example is prosthetics, which are used to help facilitate rehabilitation, yet are largely based on the bone density and structure of a white male. According to biomedical engineering doctoral scholar Adrienne Williams, a 2015–16 AAUW International Fellow, African American women, who face different health risks than white males, would benefit from a more mindful design of prosthetic limbs. “Unfortunately, mass production is based on average measurements taken from groups for which data already exists and is readily available and therefore cheaper to obtain,” she says. This is just one of the many reasons why it’s critical that we work to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields more accessible to women of color.
3. Recognize the many women of color excelling in uncommon positions.
More than half a century before Title IX leveled the playing field for women in sports, Lucy Diggs Slowe, a Howard University student, became the first African American to win a national title when she won the American Tennis Association’s national tournament in 1917. Today, African American women athletes still live in a generation of firsts — from Maritza Correia, who became the first African American woman swimmer on the U.S. Olympic Team in 2002 to Nzingha Prescod, an African American who became the first American foil fencer to win a Grand Prix Title in 2013. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the woman behind Beyoncè’s “Flawless” definition of a feminist, once said, “The single story creates stereotypes. The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” Amplifying these women’s stories and others like them is critical — not just for little black girls, who can use them to visualize their dreams, but also for black women, who can be edified by knowing the richness of their history and the diversity of the experiences of women who look like them.
This post was written by Fellowships and Grants Program Assistant Seaira Christian-Daniels.
Here’s the real reason 9 out of 10 colleges reported no rapes last year
A new analysis of campus crime data has revealed that 91 percent of U.S. colleges had no reported cases of rape in 2014, according to the American Association of University Women.
That should be good news, but we know sexual assault is far more common than that. A 2014 survey of more than 150,000 students across the country found that nearly one in four college women had experienced sexual violence on campus. And under the Clery Act, a school is required to report every sex crime that happens on its grounds to the Department of Education.
So, why do the latest DOE numbers appear to clash with national statistics?
9 in 10 Colleges Reported No Sexual Assaults in 2014
“What these zeros really tell us is that students don’t feel comfortable coming forward with formal reports at these schools,” says Lisa M. Maatz, vice president of government relations at AAUW.
Gender Equity Quiz: Would Your College Pass AAUW’s 1914 Accreditation Test?
To earn AAUW’s accreditation, schools needed to meet certain criteria that illustrated equitable treatment of women students and faculty. Though the main purpose of accreditation was to allow women graduates to become AAUW members, one of the secondary benefits was that it pressured universities to elevate their standards for women.
Would your college or university pass AAUW’s 1914 accreditation test? Find out! Give yourself one point for each yes, add them up, and see your results below.
1. “Are all courses of study open to women?”
This may seem like a silly question now, but in 1914, this was a big problem. Some universities made satellite campuses for women (like Harvard University’s Radcliffe College) instead of allowing them to access the main university. Other schools would give women access to certain programs, like education or fine arts, and not allow them into the law or medical schools. While attending Johns Hopkins University in the 1890s, AAUW member Florence Bascom was forced to sit behind a screen so as not to “disrupt” male students. Still, she persevered and became the first U.S. woman to receive a doctorate in geology.
Similarly, 19th-century physiologist Ida Henrietta Hyde was forbidden to attend lectures or labs at her university and had to rely on two male lab assistants to take notes for her. Though we can take our own notes today (thanks, Title IX), women still have reduced access to certain fields — especially computer science and engineering — due to gender bias and sexism.
2. “Are there women members of the board of trustees?”
If a university is going to make decisions with women in mind, women must be represented on its board. Some boards of trustees have a reputation as “old boys’ clubs,” and this accreditation question was to help ensure that women were part of the conversation. Many schools and businesses still struggle with making their boards gender balanced today.
3. “Is there provision through halls of residence or other buildings for the social life of the women students?”
This question is two-pronged: Are there residence halls available for women students, and is there a social structure for women at these schools? Even in 1914, AAUW was committed to helping improve women’s equality in all aspects of campus life. Today, we have more than 70 student organizations working to empower college women and fight for gender equity at campuses across the country. For this question, give yourself one point if your campus has a women’s center or AAUW student organization!
4. “Is there a gymnasium especially provided for the women students?”
This question tackles the issue of equal access. By 1914, women were starting to take part in more sports, with swimming, tennis, and basketball (to name a few) becoming more popular. Having a gym to practice these activities bolstered the academic woman’s overall well-being. Today, AAUW continues to advocate forwomen’s equity in sports — and so much more — through Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools.
5. “How many women are there on the faculty with a rank higher than that of instructor?”
AAUW pushed colleges and universities to ensure women faculty had equal access to tenure and research opportunities. Part of this meant that colleges had to offer qualified women positions of real power. If men were made professors and women were only instructors, it showed that the school had a culture of prejudiced hiring practices. AAUW would also later criticize schools that only employed women professors in “pink-collar” professions, or female-dominated fields such as education and home economics that paid less than male-dominated ones. Today, AAUW continues to champion the rights and equality of women academics.
Give yourself a point if 20 percent or more of the faculty at your school are women.
Fun fact: In the original criteria, there was another question before this one — “How many women are there on the faculty with the rank of instructor?” This question targeted potentially sexist promotion practices at the university. It also showed how much the school supported women scholars: Unlike instructors, professors could be tenured and conduct research projects in their field.
6. “What is the relationship between the salaries given to women members of the faculty and those given to men of the same rank?”
Yes, even 100 years ago, AAUW was fighting for equal pay. Some universities seeking accreditation tried to tiptoe around this question. They argued that there was no written rule requiring equal pay — women just happened to be paid less — and that women weren’t applying to the same high-paid positions as men did. A century later, we still hear these false claims that prohibit equal pay, and our research continues to debunk them.
According to new data by the American Association of University Professors, male professors across a range of ranks and disciplines are paid $95,886 on average compared to $77,417 paid to female professors. Not cool. Do women faculty on your campus receive equal pay to men? If so, give yourself a point. Find out by checking the American Association of University Professors’ annual faculty salary survey, which includes a breakdown by gender.
7. “What is the academic rank of the dean of women? Does she give instruction in college classes?”
Though having a dean of women fell out of practice around 1960, the role was meant to oversee aspects of daily life for women, including dormitories. What this questions asks, therefore, is whether or not the dean of women has equal power on campus to her male counterparts. For the purposes of this quiz, having a Title IX coordinator with an active role on campus is enough to earn you a point.
How did your school do? Find out now.
WOW! What a week for women in sports.
Congrats, Serena Williams! #yasqueen
🎾🙌🎾🙌🎾🙌🎾🙌🎾🙌🎾🙌🎾🙌🎾🙌🎾
🙌🎾🙌🙌
Want to help level the playing field for women in sports?
Here are three ways you can help promote gender equity in sports.
Have you been tuning into #WorldCup2015? Unfortunately, expanded opportunities for female athletes have not translated into greater gender equity throughout the professional sports world. While the minimum salary for athletes in the MLS, the highest-level men’s soccer is $60,000, salaries in the women’s equivalent, the NWSL, range from a paltry $6,842 to $37,800 at the cap. And whereas prize money for the winners of the women’s #WorldCup2015 is set at $2 million, in 2014, FIFA doled out $576 million in prize money for the men’s tournament.
Here’s how YOU can help level the playing field.
1. Watch tonight’s #WorldCup2015 final! ⚽
The U.S. women are contenders for the trophy, hoping to add to World Cup wins in 1991 and 1999, as well as numerous Olympic medals. And with household icons Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, and Sydney Leroux going up against international stars like Germany’s Nadine Angerer and Japan’s Homare Sawa, the competition will be fierce.2. Become a Title IX advocate!
By communicating with schools about the importance of Title IX coordinators, sharing our video, or writing letters to the editor, you can help protect education and sports programs for students across the nation.3. Support girls’ and women’s teams.
Attend sporting events, coach a team, and request media coverage from your local newspaper and TV stations.READ MORE: http://www.aauw.org/2015/06/23/unequal-fortunes-womens-soccer/
It’s about time this made front page news.
Props to the washingtonpost for making campus sexual assault the cover of today’s newspaper.
According to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 20 percent of young women who attended college during the past four years say they were sexually assaulted, But the circle of victims on the nation’s campuses is probably even larger. In all, the poll found, 25 percent of young women and 7 percent of young men say they suffered unwanted sexual incidents in college.
READ MORE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/2015/06/12/1-in-5-women-say-they-were-violated/
Think colleges should be held accountable for sexual assault? We do. Tell your Rep. to support the HALT Act: bit.ly/HALTact
On Monday, August 26, we’ll celebrate Women’s Equality Day, the day that marks the anniversary of when the 19th Amendment was ratified.
To honor this great day, we’ve got a video that celebrates how far women have come and notes how far we still have to go.
Here’s how the video breaks down:
- 0:47 – Women’s equality is the right to be taken seriously for your brain, your values, your choices.
- 1:17 – Pants!
- 1:42 – Stock options, credit cards, owning property – yup, this is all thanks to the movement for women’s equality.
- 2:05 – No more MRS. degrees. Women can actually use their degrees in a professional career.
- 2:27 – We’re not done.
- 2:32 – Inequalities in sports….
- 2:49 – Women’s underrepresentation in business, education, politics….
- 3:16 – Today, we’re grateful for how far we’ve come.
NASA's 1962 Shockingly Sexist Letter To An Aspiring Female Astronaut
Maybe this is why it took women so long to go where no man has gone before.
In NASA’s defense, it’s come a long way.
Last month NASA announced its new team of eight trainee astronauts, including four women. That means 50 percent are women — the highest percentage ever picked by NASA for a class of astronaut candidates.
This isn’t the first time NASA has benefited from the work of amazing women innovators, astronomers, and scientists. The trainees are following in the footsteps of inspiring women like Nancy Grace Roman, the first woman to hold an executive position at NASA. Or Judith Resnik, who received an AAUW fellowship and went on to become the second American woman in space. Or Mae Jemison, a physician and science mission specialist for the Endeavour and the first African American woman in space.These women not only succeeded in establishing themselves in a male-dominated field where women were not always welcome, but they also paved the way for the astronomers of today and tomorrow.
Today we pushed for greater Title IX enforcement by celebrating the law’s impact on women’s athletics. There was a skills clinic led by the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and a congressional basketball shoot-out.