Education and Research

The Foundation's increased involvement in women's programs came at a propitious moment in education. In June 1972 Congress passed Title IX of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in all federally funded education programs. Further legislative steps followed—notably the 1974 Women's Educational Equity Act and the 1976 Vocational Education Amendments—both of which dramatically exposed the nature and extent of discrimination in U.S. schools, colleges, and universities. Because education plays such a critical role in shaping women's aspirations and skills, the Education and Public Policy Division initiated a program to promote equal access to schooling at all levels and jobs in education, and to eliminate sex discrimination in both educational materials and the teaching process itself.

From 1972 on, substantial Foundation resources went to organizations that monitored public agencies charged with enforcing laws against sex discrimination in education. Foundation support also enabled these groups to offer technical assistance to the many schools, colleges, and state departments of education trying to conform with the law. When monitoring and assistance was ineffective, the Foundation supported litigation to promote sex equity. Chief grantees included the Association of American Colleges' Project on the Status and Education of Women, the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund's Project on Equal Education Rights (PEER), the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) Educational and Legal Defense Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Friends Service Committee, and the ACLU Foundation of Georgia. The work of these groups, like that of groups concerned with women's employment, brought new learning opportunities to millions of students and inspired others to challenge restrictive practices.