Title IX still helping to close gender gaps

Like seeing girls sports featured in newspapers? Have daughters that get the opportunity to compete in all type of sports? Like knowing that when you tell your daughter she can be exactly what she wants to be and know that the opportunities are there so she can?

You can thank Title IX for those opportunities and advancements. Title IX turns 40 today, and Schaumburg’s American Association of University Women has been there every step of the way. AAUW was instrumental in the passage of Title IX in 1972. This historic legislation, co-authored by AAUW member Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii), opened the doors of education to women, finally allowing them access to college and graduate school, after-school programs and, most famously, sports.

Ironically, most people don’t know that sports are not even mentioned in the act. Title IX states, simply, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Although women and girls have made great strides both on and off the playing field, challenges for women still remain. Nearly half of all middle school students are sexually harassed, women are underrepresented in the STEM fields, and occupational segregation still exists. The fight for equality for the sexes is still a battle that needs to be fought, but each step brings us closer to closing the gap.

Please take this opportunity to thank the people responsible for this act coming into law and relish in opportunities that you may have been a recipient of because of this law.

Barbara Garvin

Schaumburg