Abstract
NCAA Division I athletics programs are required to go through a certification program developed by the NCAA. A major area of this certification program that of gender-equity.The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes that have been made in Division I college athletics programs certified by the NCAA's Division I Athletics Certification Program in the area of gender-equity since the program's inception in 1993. Athletic administrative personnel (58) from a random sample of 70 Division I certified athletics programs responded to a mail survey pertaining to gender-equity and Title IX areas of intercollegiate athletics. Descriptive statistics were used to identify changes in gender-equity areas in Division I athletics programs that have been certified by the NCAA. A qualitative analysis was conducted on open-ended questions pertaining to the institution's changes and long-range plans for change in each institution's women's athletics programs.Findings were as follows: (a) institutions certified by the NCAA's Division I Athletics Certification Program showed positive changes in all areas of gender-equity as it pertained to the certification program, (b) while most gains in athletic expenditures at certified institutions supported previous research and were similar in most categories, recruiting dollars and operating expenses for women's athletics were much higher in certified institutions than in the NCAA as a whole, (c) of the 58 certified institutions in this study, 18 created a formal gender-equity plan which did not exist prior to the certification's inception in 1993, and, (d) regarding women athletic administrators, 29% of the responding institutions had only one woman athletic administrator. Finally, in spite of reported advances, certified institution's athletics programs remain far distant from becoming gender-equitable or proportionate in many areas of Title IX and gender-equity areas even though positive changes have been made in these areas.