{"id":57048,"date":"2017-03-02T14:56:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T00:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=57048"},"modified":"2019-02-28T15:44:02","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T01:44:02","slug":"title-ixs-mandate-increases-opportunities-for-college-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/02\/title-ixs-mandate-increases-opportunities-for-college-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Title IX<\/abbr> increases opportunities for college women"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

—This editorial by 东精影业<\/abbr> Mānoa Assistant Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator Marilyn Moniz-Kahoʻohanohano<\/strong> and AAUW<\/abbr> Honolulu branch’s Janet Morse was originally published in the March 2, 2017 edition of the Honolulu Star Advertiser<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Wahine<\/p>\n

Talk to any educator, or anyone involved in education, and it’s a sure bet they’ve heard of Title IX<\/abbr><\/a>. It’s a sweeping regulation that requires any school that takes federal funds to put programs in place that provide equal opportunity and prohibit sex discrimination. With few exceptions, this law affects K–12 education, colleges and universities, for-profit schools, career and technical education agencies, libraries and museums.<\/p>\n

In fact, the law has a connection to Hawaiʻi<\/span>—it was named the Patsy Mink<\/strong> Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002, to honor the late U.S. representative, who was a sponsor of the bill.<\/p>\n

This law affects all aspects of academia, but the most visible effect Title IX<\/abbr><\/a> has is on college athletics. Under the law, all learning institutions are required to offer equal athletic opportunities. While this hardly seems revolutionary today, keep in mind that when the law was passed in 1972, there were about 30,000 female college athletes according to AAUW<\/abbr> (American Association of University Women). Today there are more than 150,000.<\/p>\n

This increase in female participation in sports doesn’t just mean more women are on the field. It also opens more educational opportunities to women in the form of scholarships. The inclusion of more women means greater diversity because of more athletic scholarships. In the same way athletic scholarships for men diversifies schools in racial, socio-economic and gender representation by making college a reality for those who would not otherwise consider it, Title IX<\/abbr> allows college to be an option for women athletes who may have been hesitant to consider higher education.<\/p>\n

This means that those women graduate with better jobs and better earning potential. The increased efforts to recruit, retain and graduate female college athletes means that families will be able to increase their socio-economic status and better contribute to society as a whole.<\/p>\n

In addition, a line can be drawn from Title IX<\/abbr>’s passage in the early ’70s to the long-time dominance of the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at Mānoa’s women’s volleyball team. Without the law, the resources to develop, grow and support the four-time champions may not have been provided and the pride 东精影业<\/abbr> Mānoa, and the state, has for the program would not exist.<\/p>\n

The recent appointment of Robyn Ah Mow-Santos<\/strong>, a former player, as the new head coach of the Wahine volleyball team is proof that Title IX<\/abbr> works. But today, only 43 percent of women’s collegiate teams are coached by females. We should be concerned with this statistic and the decline of the number of women coaches.<\/p>\n