The purpose of the project described in this study was to develop and field-test an educational workshop designed to lower individual and organizational resistance to change relative to the issues of gender equity in intercollegiate athletics. The effectiveness of the workshop was assessed by addressing three questions: (a) Did participants believe that their participation in the workshop increased their awareness and understanding of Title IX?; (b) Did participants believe that their participation in the workshop increased their awareness and understanding of the gender specific value of sport?; and, (c) Do/did participants indicate that they intended to initiate actions to facilitate further gender equity on their own campuses?
Workshop participants included intercollegiate athletic personnel from two National Athletic Intercollegiate Association and/or National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III member institutions. The institutions and participants were selected based on their willingness to participate in the workshop fiel, d-tests.
The workshop content addressed Title IX and the gender specific value of sport using a combination lecture and small group activity format. The effectiveness of the workshop was assessed using a post-workshop survey, workshop facilitator notes and reflections, and in the case of the first workshop field-test, focus group and follow-up interviews.
The findings were: (a) Both workshop field-tests were effective in lowering change resistance as defined in this project, with the revised workshop being more effective than the original workshop; and, (b) The workshop was improved through consideration and implementation of selected education change strategies and adult learning theory.
