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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.,