Quotas?

In my last blog, Title IX and Economics, I discussed Title IX and its economic impact  on athletic programs. While Title IX does not require institutions to spend the same dollar amount on women as they do on men, they should both be treated fairly. Title IX compliance for athletic programs is measured by using three components of the law. The three components are Effective Accommodation of Interests, Financial Assistance, and Equivalence in Other Benefits and Opportunities. In this blog, I will  discuss Component 1: Effective Accommodation of Interests, which consists of a three-prong test, and whether or not the test imposes a strict quota.

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation,”, the three-prong test aids in the determination of  whether or not an athletic program is in compliance with Title IX. The three parts of this test are proportionality, history and continued practice of program expansion, and full accommodations of interests and abilities.1 In order for a program to be in compliance they must pass one of these tests.1 They do not have to pass all three of them, just one.

For a program to pass the proportionality test, female and male sports must have a number of athletes that is in direct proportion with the school’s student enrollment. An example of this is “if 49% of a high school enrollment is female, then 49% of the athletes participating should be female.”2

If an institution is to comply with the history and continued practice of program expansion, they would have to demonstrate that they are putting in the effort to insure that the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex are being met and expanded upon.1 An example of passing this “prong” of the test would be to have added “new sports or competitive levels for girls within the past 3 to 5 years.”2

To be able to pass the full accommodations of interests and abilities prong of this test, an institution must prove that the interests of the underrepresented sex are completely accommodated by the program that is in place.1 A program would pass this prong of the test by showing proof that they “regularly-administered surveys of females for emerging interests in sports.”2

As wordy as the explanations are for the different prongs of the test, it debunks the myth of athletic programs having to meet “quotas”. The three-prong test is simply a measurement or benchmark in order to determine whether or not a program is treating athletic opportunities for both genders fairly.  According to the law, “satisfaction of any ONE of the three prongs provides evidence of compliance with COMPONENT 1 of the Title IX compliance framework. “2

1Women’s Sports Foundation. (2017). Title IX Myths and Facts. Retreived from https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/advocate/title-ix-issues/what-is-title-ix/title-ix-myths-facts/

2Warrick County School Corporation. (n.d.). Three Components of Title IX. Retreived from http://www.warrickschools.com/schools/castle/athletics/coachHandbook/Gender%20Equity%20Information/3%20Components%20of%20Title%20IX.pdf