The Implications of Implementation Burdens for Title IX Officers and Students
Part I: What Evidence Did We Gather? National Survey and Interviews
By: Elizabeth Bell, University of Texas at Austin; Daniel L. Fay, Florida State University; Emily Boykin, Florida State University; and Jaeyeong Nam, Florida State University
In association with ATIXA, we set out to understand current thoughts, perceptions, and emotions underpinning Title IX administrators and their jobs. In this four-part mini-series, we discuss some of our findings throughout the survey and interview process. First, we describe the evidence we gathered from this process to inform our study.
We sent online survey invitations in April 2023 to each Title IX coordinator and deputy Title IX coordinator at public and private four-year colleges in the U.S. (n~4,000). We limited the sample to four-year colleges because two-year colleges and virtual learning campuses are less likely to be residential and thus deal with fewer Title IX issues. We received 465 completed survey responses, of which 316 respondents identified as Title IX coordinators, 100 respondents identified as Deputy Title IX Coordinators (n=100), and the rest were serving in some other supporting role.
We summarize the demographic characteristics of our survey and interview respondents in Table 1 below. Approximately 50% of the respondents had less than two years of experience in their current position, while 28.1% reported had more than five years of experience in their current position. Our survey and interview respondents were predominantly White (61.3% in the survey and 75% in interviews), but we did have all racial groups represented to some extent in the survey. Additionally, 61.1% of survey respondents identified as women, while 17.8% identified as men. The majority of respondents held graduate or professional degrees. Specifically, 40.8% held a master’s degree, 16.9% held a J.D. degree, and 16.8% held a Ph.D. degree.
In the final section of the online survey, we asked about their willingness to participate in follow-up face-to-face interviews. Subsequently, we sent email invitations to 165 respondents who responded yes, and we conducted interviews with 28 participants via Zoom between June 5 and July 19, 2023. The left section of each table presents a demographic breakdown of the interviewees in comparison to the total respondents in the online survey. Broadly, the demographic composition closely resembles that of the online survey.
| Table 1. Characteristics of Survey and Interview Respondents | ||||
| Role | Survey | Interview | ||
| Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | |
| Coordinator | 316 | 67.96% | 20 | 71.43% |
| Deputy | 100 | 21.51% | 6 | 21.43% |
| Interim | 14 | 3.01% | ||
| No longer | 11 | 2.37% | 1 | 3.57% |
| Other | 24 | 5.16% | 1 | 3.57% |
| Year | Survey | Interview | ||
| Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | |
| Less than a year | 110 | 23.66% | 8 | 28.57% |
| 1-2 years | 125 | 26.88% | 12 | 42.86% |
| 3-4 years | 66 | 14.19% | 3 | 10.71% |
| 4-5 years | 33 | 7.10% | ||
| 5 or more years | 131 | 28.17% | 5 | 17.86% |
| Race | Survey | Interview | ||
| Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | |
| White, non-Hispanic/Latino | 285 | 61.29% | 21 | 75.00% |
| Black or African American | 47 | 10.11% | 6 | 21.43% |
| Multiracial | 14 | 3.01% | 1 | 3.57% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 13 | 2.80% | ||
| Asian | 4 | 0.86% | ||
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 3 | 0.65% | ||
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 1 | 0.22% | ||
| Other | 4 | 0.86% | ||
| Not answered | 94 | 20.22% | ||
| Gender | Survey | Interview | ||
| Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | |
| Woman | 284 | 61.08% | 16 | 57.14% |
| Man | 83 | 17.85% | 11 | 39.29% |
| Non-binary | 3 | 0.65% | 1 | 3.57% |
| Transgender Man | 1 | 0.22% | ||
| Other | 1 | 0.22% | ||
| Not answered | 93 | 20.00% | ||
| Education | Survey | Interview | ||
| Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 27 | 5.81% | ||
| Bachelor’s Degree | 190 | 40.86% | 18 | 64.29% |
| JD (Law) | 79 | 16.99% | 6 | 21.43% |
| PhD | 78 | 16.77% | 4 | 14.29% |
| Not answered | 91 | 19.57% | ||
| Institution Control | Survey | Interview | ||
| Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | |
| Private not-for-profit | 280 | 60.22% | 19 | 67.86% |
| Public | 169 | 36.34% | 9 | 32.14% |
| Private for-profit | 13 | 2.80% | ||
| Missing | 3 | 0.65% | ||
| Institution Size | Survey | Interview | ||
| Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | |
| Under 1,000 | 57 | 12.26% | 4 | 14.29% |
| 1,000–4,999 | 229 | 49.25% | 13 | 46.43% |
| 5,000–9,999 | 74 | 15.91% | 4 | 14.29% |
| 10,000–19,999 | 51 | 10.97% | 5 | 17.86% |
| 20,000 and above | 49 | 10.54% | 2 | 7.14% |
| Other | 5 | 1.80% | ||
| Total | 465 | 100.00% | 28 | 100.00% |
Tune in for the next installment, where the authors share their findings!