A Reading List for the 50th Anniversary of Title IX
June 23 marks the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. This landmark law prohibits sex-based discrimination by institutions that receive federal money for education. From admissions to athletics to sexual harassment protections, it's had a tremendous effect on expanding access and equality for women and girls.
The books below highlight the impact of Title IX—on sports, which it is most closely associated with, on education as more women have had the opportunity to enter traditionally male-dominated careers, and on campus protections against the epidemic of sexual assault which has received heightened attention in the #MeToo era. Many of these books portray not only how the promise of Title IX has been delivered on, but how it has fallen short, and how inequality persists beyond the reach of the law.
Learn About Title IX
37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination
by Sherry Boschert
This history of the federal legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in education traces the evolution of Title IX and how it accelerated a movement for equal education in classrooms, sports fields and all of campus life.
Women in Sports
Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America
by Julie DiCaro
Covering everything from the abusive online environment at Barstool Sports to the sexist treatment of Serena Williams and professional women's teams fighting for equal pay and treatment, and looking back at pioneering women who first took on the patriarchy in sports media, Sidelined illuminates the ways sports present a microcosm of life as a woman in America—and the power in fighting back.
Stand Up and Shout Out: Women's Fight for Equal Pay, Equal Rights, and Equal Opportunities in Sports
by Joan Steidinger
This book explores three crucial areas in sport that remain huge concerns for women: leadership, money, and media. It examines topics such as the #MeToo movement, pay equity, and the experiences of women of color and LGBTQ athletes. Interviews with prominent female athletes are interwoven throughout to add personal perspectives to the conversation.
Invisible Seasons: Title IX and the Fight for Equity in College Sports
by Kelly Belanger
In Invisible Seasons, Belanger recalls the remarkable story of how the MSU women athletes helped change the landscape of higher education athletics. They learned the hard way that even groundbreaking civil rights laws are not self-executing. This behind-the-scenes look at a university sports program challenges us all to think about what it really means to put equality into practice, especially in the money-driven world of college sports.
Gender Inequality in Sports: From Title IX to World Titles
by Kirstin Cronn-Mills
A comprehensive view of gender inequality in sports, this book details the continued struggle against unequal pay, discrimination, and sexism despite the landmark law of Title IX.
Course Correction: A Story of Rowing and Resilience in the Wake of Title IX
by Ginny Gilder
The author describes her rise in the sport of rowing, which came in the wake of Title IX, describing both her personal and professional challenges and accomplishments on her way to the 1984 Olympic Games.
State: A Team, a Triumph, a Transformation
by Melissa Isaacson
The unlikely story of a Chicago high school basketball team that became one of their state’s first-ever girls’ basketball champions after the passage of Title IX, which banned gender discrimination in school athletics.
Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League
by Britni de la Cretaz & Lyndsey D'Arcangelo
In the early 1970s, a businessman had a brilliant idea: why not start a women's football league? It was conceived as a gimmick and a publicity stunt to capitalize on the popularity of Second Wave Feminism and the passage of Title IX. He recruited women across the country; much to his surprise, he learned that women really wanted to play, and play hard. Hail Mary is the story of the unlikely rise of the National Women's Football League and the players who loved a game that society told them they shouldn't be playing.
Getting in the Game: Title IX and the Women's Sports Revolution
by Deborah L. Brake
In this first legal analysis of Title IX, Brake assesses the statute's successes and failures, using a feminist theory lens to understand, defend, and critique the law. While the statute has created tremendous gains for female athletes, not only raising the visibility and cultural acceptance of women in sports, but also creating social bonds for women, positive body images, and leadership roles, the disparities in funding between men's and women's sports have remained remarkably resilient.
Women in the Workplace
Just a Girl: Growing Up Female and Ambitious
by Lucinda Jackson
The personal story of the author's ambition to become and succeed as a scientist during the "white man in power" era of the 1950s to 2010s. Just a Girl identifies the court cases and lawsuits that helped advance the cultural changes we see today and suggests a different direction for corporate America to take to stop the cycle of sexual harassment. Eye-opening and inspiring, it points the way to a brighter future for women everywhere.
Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
by Walter Isaacson
A portrait of the Nobel Prize-winning scientist explores the impact of James Watson’s The Double Helix on her career and how her team’s invention of CRISPR technology enabled revolutionary DNA-editing approaches to fighting disease.
Where You Are Is Not Who You Are
by Ursula Burns
In this candid book, part memoir and part cultural critique, the first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company writes movingly about her journey from tenement housing on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to the highest echelons of the corporate world.
Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet-and Our Mission to Protect It
by Nicole Stott
A NASA astronaut who spent over one hundred days aboard the International Space Station discusses the lessons in problem-solving and crisis response she learned and how we can all use those skills to make positive change.
Lab Girl
by Hope Jahren
A memoir by an award-winning paleobiologist traces her childhood in her father's laboratory, her longtime relationship with a brilliant but wounded colleague and the remarkable discoveries they have made both in the lab and during extensive field research assignments.
A Portrait of the Scientist As a Young Woman
by Lindy Elkins-Tanton
A memoir from a world-renowned planetary scientist explores her remarkable life story, the struggles she faced as a woman in the field, and her work as the leader of NASA's Psyche mission to explore the largest known metal-rich asteroid.
Women of Color in Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators
by Susanne Tedrick
Read this book to help bring to life your vision of a future in tech. With practical advice and inspiring stories, you'll develop the right tools and the right mindset. Whether you're just considering going into tech or you want to take your current career to the next level, Women of Color in Tech will show you how to uncover the resources you need to succeed.
FinTech Women Walk the Talk: Moving the Needle for Workplace Gender Equality in Financial Services and Beyond
by Nadia Edwards-Dashti
The FinTech community is steeped in change and has the potential to pave the way for equal opportunities in the workplace, considering the positive actions that have taken place. There is so much more that can be done but what has been achieved so far needs to be replicated. This book showcases the successes in the industry alongside that which could act as a barrier or escalator.
Women on Campus
Beyond the Rapist: Title IX and Sexual Violence on US Campuses
by Kate Lockwood Harris
Harris considers whether institutional changes to combat campus sexual assault might in practice be reproducing that violence in other forms. Harris explores how complex physical and symbolic components of violence are embedded in organizations and applies this thinking to the policies and practices of a university known for its Title IX processes. In doing so, she suggests that combatting the epidemic of sexual violence on college campus involves both recognizing that sexual violence is part of larger systems of injustice and refining our definition of violence to encompass far more than individual moments of physical injury.
Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus
by Vanessa Grigoriadis
Draws on research at college and university campuses to explore the topics of sex, consent, and sexual assault, discussing statistics about the prevalence of campus rape, and offering advice on how to make college a safer experience.
Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus
by Jennifer S. Hirsch & Shamus Khan
The co-directors of [the ethnographic component of] Columbia University’s groundbreaking SHIFT study into campus sexual assault reveal the complex social ecosystem of physical space, alcohol, peer dynamics and cultural norms that influence the experience and interpretations of both sex and sexual assault.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.