Despite gender roles where women were relegated to the home, women have made significant strides in the battle for gender equality in the 21st century. We can work, go to college, and be affiliated with sports clubs. However, even though we have come so far, we still have a long ways to go in the sports field. There is still discrimination, especially when it comes equal pay.
Title IX was enacted by Congress and signed by Richard Nixon in 1972. Its chief goal was to eliminate discrimination in all educational programs that receive federal funding. Title IX is a rule that mandates equal and proportional rights between men and women in sports and athletics. That means equal funding and having an equal amount of sports for men and women to participate in.
However, since Title IX, participation in sports has increased for men and women. Today, over 110,000 men compete in college-level athletics. Since 1982, 248 more men's basketball teams have been added to college division programs. Before Title IX, 2 percent of college women participated in sports. Now it has increased to 43 percent, with a gain of over 400 percent. These numbers show great improvement within male and female sports, but inequality still exists.
The debate surrounding whether or not athletes should get paid mainly focuses on college football athletes. According to the Daily Evergreen, the Division 1 Board of Directors approved a rule that would allow football players a yearly $2,000 stipend. There has been debate that not all sports generate revenue for the school, and the ones that do should make some profit. Even though college football makes a lot of money and the team works hard to have great seasons, other sports like women’s basketball and swimming are working just as hard.One of the most important factors of Title IX is equality, not the amount of profit that’s generated for the school.
If we are focusing on the sports generating the most money, it can hurt the other sport team’s recruitment process and their ability to perform at the highest level. Paying college athletes can also generate big lawsuits that no university wants if they’re not obeying Title IX. The Washington State University Women’s basketball team had a winning record this season and the coach, June Daugherty, didn’t get paid not nearly as much as Ernie Kent, the head men's basketball coach for WSU.
Within college sports, a majority of men have always been paid more than women. Even if they’re both equally qualified, organizations tend to lean more towards men getting paid more and hired more often. According to The Atlantic, there was a study done this year to show the head coach salary gaps for men and women’s basketball for all universities in the country.
For WSU men’s basketball, Head Coach Ernie Kent gets paid on average $156,621. Female Coach June Daugherty on average gets paid $18,914. The salary gap between the two incomes is $137,707. Kent is getting paid more than triple the amount and Daugherty still had a better season than the men’s team. This salary gap is an ongoing pattern throughout each state from this study. This is often because of the popularity of male and female sports and the amount of endorsements they receive. Title IX has managed to make complaints with schools with lawsuits and threats of lawsuits. The law states that if schools violate Title IX they will lose their federal funding. In thirty years, no school has lost federal funding by not complying with Title IX.
Improvements have shown in this area over time. We went from approximately 35,000 women who participated in college athletics to 150,000 female athletes. By talking about gender inequality, it makes people aware that we are discriminating against women and acknowledging the problem is the first step. Breaking traditions and social norms that were set for women since the beginning isn’t an easy thing to do, but promoting equal opportunities and empowering women can contribute to a closer victory.
