Scheduled for Poster Session: Socio-, Cross-Cultural, and Motivational Concerns Impacting Sport and School Contexts, Thursday, April 10, 2008, 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall, Reseach Consortium Poster Sessions


Title IX: The Pursuit of Social Justice for Female Athletes

Ellen J. Staurowsky, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

As a social movement, Title IX has been demonstrably successful in facilitating a societal shift in attitude toward female athletes as evidenced by the emergence of such cultural expressions as “GRRRRL Power” and “Title IX babies”. According to Feree and Hess (1994), Title IX is, in fact, one of the most enduring contributions to American society to emerge from the Women's Movement. Noted for both its ability to create social change as well as serving as a focal point for social resistance, debates that circulate around Title IX remain as vibrant and charged in 2007 as they were at the time of its passage 35 years ago. The purpose of this study was to explore reasons for the enduring nature of the debates that have occurred around Title IX during the past three and a half decades. Using resource mobilization theory and political process theory, which considers both structural and cultural factors that affect the ability of those seeking justice to move forward a social agenda for change, an analysis of six Title IX cases was undertaken in this study. Data collection included research on each case using available documentation (case briefs, reports, media accounts, research studies) and hour long audio-taped interviews with four individuals involved in each case (a total of 24 interviews were conducted in total). The interviews were subsequently transcribed and data from the interviews were analyzed across several factors including events that lead up to or precipitated each case, motivations of plaintiffs to pursue their cases, the effect of what was happening nationally with women's sports, mobilization of resources to discourage plaintiffs from coming forward, and the outcomes of each case. Findings from the study provide compelling insight into the amount of human capital that has been directed toward changing the gender order within athletic departments in our nation's schools and the necessity to continue to work toward enforcing Title IX vigorously at both the high school and college level.
Keyword(s): gender issues, legal issues

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