Perceptions of Title IX's impact on gender equity within intercollegiate athletics: The Mississippi public community and junior colleges

Abstract

Title IX's legislation has been in place since 1972 and has affected female participation in a positive form towards gender equity. However many institution sill have difficulty complying with the standards mandated by Title IX. Gender equity is established by meeting substantial proportionality, continued expansion, or full accommodations prongs mandated by Title IX for an institution to be in compliance.

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of the athletic directors of the 15 public community and junior colleges in Mississippi regarding Title IX compliance and determine if their respective institutions are in compliance with the substantial proportionality (SP) prong of Title IX. The study identified the perceptions of the athletic directors regarding their institutions' Title IX compliance, as well as the effective strategies and barriers toward meeting the requirements to comply with Title IX within their programs. In addition, the study revealed whether or not the institutions complied with the SP prong of Title IX.

Athletic directors (N=15; 53% response rate) from the public community and junior colleges from Mississippi completed the Two-Year College Title IX Survey. Results revealed that overall the athletic directors perceived that their institutions were in compliance with Title IX. However, the athletic directors perceived that the listed strategies were not effective and the barriers listed were not perceived barriers to Title IX compliance. However, the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data revealed that none of the institutions complied with the SP prong of Title IX. From a practical perspective, the study revealed that while the athletic directors perceived that their institutions met the SP prong, EADA data revealed that none of the institutions in the state met that prong. Consequently, this finding indicates that there is a need for more education regarding Title IX compliance at the institutions. This information could serve as a starting point for an in-depth institutional study on Title IX. From a theoretical perspective, the study provided information that gives leaders at the public community and junior colleges in Mississippi a unique look at diversity within their athletic departments.