A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Indicators of Progress Toward Equal Educational Opportunity Since Title IX

• In 1994, 63 percent of female high school graduates aged 16-24 were enrolled in college, up 20 percentage points from 43 percent in 1973.

• In 1994, 27 percent of both men and women had earned a bachelor's degree. In 1971, 18 percent of young women and 26 percent of young men had completed four or more years of college.

Graduate and Professional Degrees:

• In 1994, women received 38 percent of medical degrees. When Title IX was enacted in 1972, only 9 percent of medical degrees went to women.

• In 1994 women earned 38 percent of dental degrees, whereas in 1972 they earned only 1 percent of them.

• In 1994 women accounted for 43 percent of law degrees, up from 7 percent in 1972.

• In 1993-94, 44 percent of all doctoral degrees awarded to U.S. citizens went to women, up from only 25 percent in 1977.

Participation in Athletics:

• Today, more than 100,000 women participate in intercollegiate athletics--a fourfold increase since 1971.

• In 1995, women comprised 37 percent of college student athletes, compared to 15 percent in 1972.

• In 1996, 2.4 million high school girls represented 39 percent of all high school athletes, compared to only 300,000 or 7.5 percent in 1971. This represents an eightfold increase.

• Women won a record 19 Olympic medals in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

International Comparisons:

• In the United States, 87 percent of women 25-34 years old had completed high school in 1992, far more than their counterparts in West Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Canada.

• In the United States in 1992, 23 percent of women 25-34 years old had completed higher education degrees, which is significantly higher than for women in France and Japan (12 percent each), the United Kingdom and West Germany (11 percent each), or Italy (7 percent).

Legislation:

In addition to Title IX, three pieces of supporting and related legislation have been enacted:

• The Women's Educational Equity Act of 1974 provides for federal financial and technical support to local efforts to remove barriers for females in all areas of education through, for example, the development of model programs, training, and research.
• Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides for support to schools to comply with the mandate for nondiscrimination by providing funds for regional Desegregation Assistance Centers and grants to state education departments for providing more equitable education to students.

• The 1976 amendments to the Vocational Education Act of 1963 require states to act affirmatively to eliminate sex bias, stereotyping, and discrimination in vocational education

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