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31 J.C. & U.L. 291 (2004-2005)
Title IX and Gender Equity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education: No Longer an Overlooked Application of the Law

handle is hein.journals/jcolunly31 and id is 321 raw text is: TITLE IX AND GENDER EQUITY IN SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND
MATHEMATICS EDUCATION: No LONGER AN
OVERLOOKED APPLICATION OF THE LAW
CATHERINE PIERONEK*
INTRODUCTION
In June of 1972, Congress enacted Title IX of the Education Amendments of
19721 to ensure that 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 .... ,,2 In the three decades since, and in the 1990s in particular, Title
IX enforcement actions, including investigations by the U.S. Department of
Education (DED) and lawsuits brought by, or on behalf of, students to challenge
decisions made by educational institutions at every level, have focused primarily
on whether educational institutions have provided equitable athletic opportunities
for male and female student-athletes,3 or on whether educational institutions have
properly addressed charges of sexual harassment to ensure that inappropriate
conduct by employees or other students does not inhibit access to educational
opportunities.4 Rarely have courts examined gender equity in the academic
*Assistant director of Academic Programs, and director of the Women's Engineering
Program, University of Notre Dame; B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Notre Dame,
1984; M.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of California at Los Angeles, 1987; J.D.
University of Notre Dame, 1995.
1. Pub. L. No. 92-318, §§ 901-907, 86 Stat. 235, 373-75 (codified as amended at 20
U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688 (2000)).
2. 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a) (2000).
3. For a review of Title IX in the athletics context, see, for example, Symposium, Title IX
at Thirty, 14 MARQ. SPORTS L. REV. 1 (2003); Catherine Pieronek, Title IX Beyond Thirty: A
Review of Recent Developments, 30 J.C. & U.L. 75 (2003); and Suzanne Eckes, The Thirtieth
Anniversary of Title IX. Women Have Not Reached the Finish Line, 13 S. CAL. REV. L. &
WOMEN'S STUD. 3 (2003).
4. For a review of Title IX in the sexual harassment context, see, for example, Catherine
Pieronek, Discrimination Against Students in Higher Education, 26 J.C. & U.L. 307, 309-17
(1999); Catherine Pieronek, Discrimination Against Students in Higher Education, 27 J.C. & U.L.
367, 369-81 (2000); Catherine Pieronek, Discrimination Against Students in Higher Education,
28 J.C. & U.L. 387, 388-96 (2002); and Catherine Pieronek, Discrimination Against Students in
Higher Education, 29 J.C. & U.L. 359, 402-12 (2003). To understand the development of the
law with regard to peer-on-peer sexual harassment, see Diane Heckman, Tracing the History of
Peer Sexual Harassment in Title IX Cases, 183 EDUC. LAW REP. 1 (2004). For discussions of the
law with regard teacher/employee-on-student sexual harassment, see Charles J. Russo et al.,

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