Once upon a time—40 years ago this month, to be exact—a revolutionary piece of legislation was enacted that changed the way school sports work in this country. Known as Title IX, the federal law required that girls be afforded the same opportunities as boys to participate in athletics. As it turned out, and as this terrific piece from Bloomberg.com makes abundantly clear, the impact of Title IX has been felt well beyond the soccer fields, running tracks and swimming pools of our high schools and colleges. As the authors write: “In those states where Title IX led to the greatest expansion in female sports, the post-Title IX generation of women enjoyed more education, employment and higher wages than their pre-Title IX forebears. They were also more likely to enter previously male-dominated professions such as law, accounting and even sports.” And here’s a cool timeline from the New York Times highlighting some great achievements by women athletes, pre- and post-Title IX.

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