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Overview

In 1972 the United States Congress passed the Title IX legislation as a part of the additional Amendment Act to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Title IX states that: "no person shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participating in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance"; Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in schools receiving federal funds through grants, scholarships, or other support for students. The law states that federal funds can be withdrawn from a school engaging in intentional sex-based discrimination in the provision of curriculum, counseling, academic support, or general educational opportunities.

Contrary to popular belief, Title IX initially had nothing to do with sports and would not include interscholastic or varsity sports until later. Today the law from the Education Act requires that both male and female athletes have equal facilities and equal benefits. The equal benefits are considered necessities such as equal equipment, uniforms, supplies, training, practice, quality in coaches and opponents, awards, cheerleaders and bands at the game.

Important changes regarding athletics and sport occurred in 1975:

In 1975, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a Title IX regulation that required institutions sponsoring athletic programs to provide equal athletic opportunities for students by accommodating both sexes' athletic interests and abilities.

In 1979, there was a policy interpretation that offered three ways in which schools could be compliant with Title IX in regards to athletics and sport; it became known as the "three-part test".

Schools only have to be compliant with one of the three prongs.

A 1999 study by Sigelman and Wahlbeck found many schools were "nowhere near compliance". Many schools attempt to achieve compliance through the first prong; however, in order to achieve that compliance schools cut men's programs, which is not the way the OCR wanted compliance achieved. Equity is not the only way to be compliant with Title IX; athletic departments need to show that they are making efforts to achieve parity in participation, treatment, and athletic financial assistance.

According to research done by the National Women's Law Center in 2011, 4500 public high schools across the nation exhibited high rates of gender inequality and were considered to be in violation of the Title IX laws. Further research done by the Women's Law Center in 2017 found schools with a high number of minority students and a higher number of people of color, mainly found in the southern American states, had a much higher rate of gender disparity. A large disparity gap regarding sport-related scholarships for women and men, with men getting 190 million more in funding than women, was also found. Despite an increase in participation in sports by girls and women, this pattern persists. Most colleges focus on their male athletics teams and invest more money into those already successful programs. This disparity is presented by some feminist ideologues as a phenomenon illustrating a cause and effect link between race and gender, and how it plays a significant role in the hierarchy of sports.