Pretty good for a girl: Women athletes reflect on Title IX, gender, and playing sports in 21st century America

This research reported on the perceptions of the subjective sport experiences of Division I and Division III female soccer players. Twenty women athletes who attended DI and DIII soccer programs in the Northeast volunteered to participate in two phases of interviews. Across the interview stages, the athlete participants were prompted to consider the impact of Title IX on their sport experience. As such, their sport experiences were understood in historical context (almost four decades following Title IX inception in 1972). This frame of reference informed the study as their attention was directed toward applying and/or integrating their associations of Title IX into their experience once they viewed an HBO documentary that chronicles the history of women's sport. Moreover, the athletes demonstrated different levels of receptivity for considering this lens.;In Part I, the athletes responded to a semi-structured interviewed guide designed by the author that identified female athletes' perceptions about their own sport experiences and the factors and/or challenges that impact their athletic endeavors. Also in Part I, the women athletes were asked to consider the term "Title IX" and offer their initial and spontaneous reactions to this phrase. This data was then folded into the beginning portion of Part II as an introduction. This process offered a baseline of their knowledge and reactions to Title IX mandates. Subsequently, the participants were separated by divisions into four focus groups in which discussions were generated in response to watching a 1999 HBO documentary entitled, "Dare to Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sport". The HBO documentary further explicates the lens of Title IX for the participants as a form of consciousness-raising that has been employed in Women's Developmental Theory which guides the research. All interview transcripts including focus group transcripts were analyzed using a Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis software package entitled Nvivo 8, which helped in storing and coding large amounts of data.;Analysis of the data revealed several themes that are indicative of the lived-experience of contemporary collegiate female athletes. A hierarchical content analysis of the individual interviews in Part I revealed four distinct higher order themes: (a.) Descriptions of Collegiate Female Athletes, (b.) Benefits of Playing Sports, (c.) Contemporary Challenges, and (d.) Stereotypes.;In Part II, a hierarchical content analysis of the focus group transcripts revealed an overarching theme called "Working-through". The interactive process of "Working-Through" presents itself in multiple ways across the data. The dynamic of working-through also fostered meaning-making, affiliation, and a collective spirit amongst participants. Four collapsed lower-order categories emerged from the dynamic of focus group discussions were: (a.) Historical Context, (b.) Invisible Gender Inequities in Sport, (c.) "The Next Step: The Advancement of Women in Sport", and (d.) Recognition of Perceived Inequities. Part II illustrates a picture of what emerges when contemporary female athletes are asked to think about their roles in a historical context and discuss their reactions and revelations with peers. The dynamic that occurred within the focus groups provided a portrait of what could be considered different developmental stages in understanding and/or acceptance of their role as female athletes in a contemporary era. Additionally, while Title IX did have an impact on the experiences of these athletes, it did not remove some of the barriers especially in place for DI athletes as they contemplated athletic careers beyond college athletics.