Title IX and Women's Success

From the Chronicle of Higher Education today:

Women who play sports in high school are more likely to earn a college degree than women who do not, according to a new study by Mikaela J. Dufur, an assistant professor of sociology at Brigham Young University, and Kelly P. Troutman, an adjunct instructor of anthropology and sociology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania...The findings..."suggest a societal benefit to female sport participation in the form of increased educational attainment," they say. Therefore, they argue, "rather than looking for ways to excuse schools from Title IX compliance, the federal government should join state and local efforts to promote equal athletic opportunities for female students."

The Chronicle notes that the full report is available online here, at least at the present.

People tend to think Title IX is mainly, or only, about sports. It isn't. But even if it were, we see here that giving women equal access to sports is an important part of giving them equal access to educational attainment.

Women in science and engineering have lots of reasons to care about the struggles of their sisters in athletics with regards to Title IX. This is just one more reason.

Discriminators and harassers, and protectors thereof, just you wait. Title IX is coming to a university near you, very very soon.