To Add Women's, Poll Finds

By WELCH SUGGS
© Chronicle of Higher Education Bulletin:
Friday, June 23, 2000

Democrat or Republican, male or female, Americans strongly support equitable financing for men's and women's sports -- even if that means cutting men's teams, according to a new poll commissioned by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News.

In the poll of 2,010 adults, 79 percent said they approved of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law that prohibits institutions that receive federal funds from discriminating on the basis of sex in any program, including athletics. An additional 14 percent said they did not approve of the law; 4 percent said they did not know enough about it and 3 percent were not sure. In a separate question, 76 percent of respondents said they approved of "cutting back on men's athletics to ensure equivalent athletic opportunities for women," while 19 percent said they disapproved of such cuts and 5 percent were not sure.

The results did not vary much between different political and demographic groups. Seventy percent of Republicans said they approved of cutting men's sports, while 79 percent of Democrats did. Even men favored making athletics programs more equal, 73 percent to 22 percent, with the rest unsure. Women agreed, 79 percent to 16 percent.

"It's clear to me that the issue is on the top of people's minds," said David Iannelli, who with Robert Teeter conducted the poll for the Journal as part of a special section titled "Women, Politics, and the Marketplace." Another question on the survey asked whether women "count as much as men when it comes to" six social issues like becoming doctors and lawyers, making decisions about major purchases, and receiving financing for athletics programs. Only 14 percent said they definitely believed that women were receiving as much money as men, while 33 percent said that was sometimes the case, and 37 said that was not the case at all.

"When you take a look at parents and people getting used to seeing young women involved in athletics, that makes [the question of equitable funding] a non-issue," Mr. Iannelli said. He noted, though, that the poll did not ask specific questions about the economics of sports, such as the fact that women's athletics at the largest universities are often financed by revenues from football and men's basketball.

While Title IX does not require colleges to give the same amount of money to men's and women's sports programs or to have equal numbers of male and female athletes, it does require them to provide equitable resources and opportunities in a nondiscriminatory way.

The poll, conducted June 14-18, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percent.