Feminist Majority Foundation's Recommendations to
the President's Interagency Council on Women: Education
Equal Access for Women and Girls to Government
Scholarships, Fellowships, and Loans.
Equal Opportunity for Women and Girls in Academic,
Athletic, and Extra-Curricular Activities at All Educational
Institutions
Girls and Young Women Must Be Able to Learn
in an Atmosphere Free of Unwanted Sexual Attention (Sexual Harassment)
EDUCATION
PRIORITY: EQUAL ACCESS FOR
WOMEN AND GIRLS TO GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIPS, FELLOWSHIPS AND
LOANS
The Platform for Action states that:
Governments should:
Para 297 (d)
"Increase enrollment and improve retention rates of girls by allocating
appropriate budgetary resources and by enlisting the support of
the community and parents through campaigns and flexible school
schedules, incentives, scholarships, access programmes for out-of-school
girls and other measures"
Para. 280 (d)
"Promote the full and equal participation of girls in extracurricular
activities, such as sports, drama and cultural activities"
Status:
Many scholarships, fellowships and loans are based on standardized
tests scores, which have been shown to be biased against women
and minorities.
Action
- The federal government should not base any scholarships,
fellowships, or loans primarily on standardized tests. Non-biased
measurements of achievement should be used of achievement
should be used, such as high school and college grades and
extra-curricular activities.
PRIORITY: EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS IN ACADEMIC, ATHLETIC AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR
ACTIVITIES AT ALL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
The Platform for Action states:
Para. 80 (c)
"Eliminate gender disparities in access to all areas of tertiary
education by ensuring that women have equal access to career development,
training, scholarships and fellowships, and by adopting positive
action (affirmative action) when appropriate."
Para. 83
(d)"Take actions to ensure that female teachers and professors
have the same opportunities as and equal status to male teachers
and professors.....school"
(m)"Provide accessible recreational and sports facilities
and establish and strengthen gender-sensitive programmes for
girls and women of all ages in education and community institutions
and support the advancement of women in all areas of athletics
and physical activity, including coaching, training and administration...."
Status:
Currently the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which has responsibility
for enforcing Title IX, has resisted Congress' attempt to weaken
Title IX. In addition, OCR has helped educational institutions
to develop plans that would implement equality access, especially
related in athletics. Still, no educational institutions have
lost their federal funding because of Title IX violations.
Action
- Congress should increase funding to OCR to maintain and
increase pressure on educational institutions to enforce Title
IX. In addition, OCR should enforce Title IX by withholding
federal funds from institutions which violate Title IX.
PRIORITY: GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN
MUST BE ABLE TO LEARN IN AN ATMOSPHERE FREE OF UNWANTED SEXUAL
ATTENTION (SEXUAL HARASSMENT).
The Platform for Action states:
Para 283 (a)
"To take effective actions and measures to enact and enforce legislation
to protect the safety and security of girls from all forms of
violence at work, including training programmes and support programmes
and take measures to eliminate incidents of sexual harassment
of girls in educational and other institutions"
Status:
Several studies have established that girls and young women
are frequently subjected to unwanted sexual attention from their
peers and occasionally from teachers and administrators in school.
This sexual harassment can include inappropriate touching, sexually
suggestive remarks, and sometimes sexual assault.
Yet school administrators are often unclear on how to deal
with sexual harassment, or even what kind of behavior constitutes
sexual harassment. And the courts have handed down conflicting
rulings as to whether Title IX covers sexual harassment in school.
Action ·
- The Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education
has been working on a Sexual Harassment Policy Guidance for
schools. Women's groups have not been able to review a copy
of this Guidance. The OCR must release a draft of this Guidance
for review and comment. The Guidance should clearly indicate
that Title IX does cover sexual harassment in education. The
Guidance should also give schools clear guidelines as to what
constitutes sexual harassment, how to prevent it, and how
to stop it once it does occur.
