Legislated in 1972, Title IX does not allow gender discrimination at any educational institutions that are receiving funding from the federal government. Since its inception, the legislation has been a hot topic in debates, and is still remaining to be controversial. Both sides have strong arguments about it, but even critics agree that it is necessary and important, stating that it is a quintessential piece of the many movements to reduce gender discrimination in schools, universities and colleges. To have a personal stand on whether Title Ix is good for society or not, let us have a look at some of its pros and cons.
List of Pros of Title IX
1. It provides balance in opportunities between genders.
Title IX provided a fine balance between boys and girls across the country with regards to opportunities. It provided more activities for girls these days, than they were in the last decades since it was enacted. Aside from this, boys have also had a lot of new opportunities that did not exist before. All students—male and female—have got their fair share of the budget allocated for special or extracurricular activities.
2. It offers useful scholarship programs.
Under the legislation, there are scholarship programs, such as the college athletic scholarship, that help female students to go to college, who otherwise would have dropped or skipped because of lack of money or choice.
3. It surged the interest of students in sports.
Not only that Title IX had surged the interest of students in sports, but also encouraged them to engage in multiple sporting categories across the domain of team sports, athletics and performing arts. It even managed to lead to consequences that reached further than what it was originally envisioned.
List of Cons of Title IX
1. It created an issue on federal budget allocation.
One critical debate regarding Title IX pertains to the burden on federal budgets allocated for education. Maintaining a fine gender balance has led many more classes, infrastructures and faculty members, with the recurring expenses to keep them up. This cost is believed to put the brunt on the budget for education. There were even cases where there was no increase in budget or special allocation for such increased educational, and the money was instead spent on Title IX activities. There were also issues where budgets allocated for male high school sports were diverted to support female sports activities, leading to some misunderstandings.
2. It had a negative impact on coaching jobs.
More males have become interested in coaching, and fewer females want to teach boys or a co-ed. What was once an exclusive job category of female coaches can now be taken over by their male counterparts. Meanwhile, a female coach in male sports is not an option, causing imbalance in another way.
3. It caused more cases of premarital sex.
Ever since boys and girls have begun to participate in acts together, premarital sex has been rising. Spending long hours practicing and partying afterwards have encouraged intimate relationships and exploitation of sexuality. This has resulted to unintended teenage pregnancies.
Conclusion
Title IX was designed to maintain gender balance, particularly covering drama, music, athletics and other extracurricular activities. It is also aimed to make discrimination-based counseling, treat fairly married or pregnant students and approach sexual harassment cases. The pros and cons listed above have been highlighted and debated over the years, where some of them have even lost their relevance as the legislation was put in place and started to show its impact. On your end, what do you think?