When Title IX was enacted in 1972 as an Education Amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was heralded as a landmark rule aimed at ending sex discrimination against students and employees of public schooling. It has since been applied to college sports, school bands and even access to health care and dorm facilities.

It says:

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal assistance."

But now, The New York Times reports, under pressure from Congress, federal agencies like NASA, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation are looking into whether discrimination is taking place at universities receiving federal money for science grants. Lab spaces and physics and engineering departments at Columbia, the University of Wisconsin, M.I.T. and the University of Maryland are among the institutions coming under the microscope.

Some lawmakers and women’s groups arguing that science needs to be "Title Nined" say there is evidence that women face discrimination in certain sciences, but critics say better research shows that, on average, women’s interest in some fields simply isn’t the same as men’s. For example:

• Women now constitute about half of medical students, 60 percent of biology majors and 70 percent of psychology Ph.Ds.

• Women earn the majority of doctorates in both the life sciences and the social sciences (even though they still are in the minority in the physical sciences and engineering).

• Women with physics degrees go on to doctorates, teaching jobs and tenure at the same rate that men do.

Research pinpoints the divergence in careers as happening at a much earlier age, simply because of different interests between the sexes. It’s not because girls don’t "get" subjects like math and science as much as boys do, but that they simply choose not to pursue those paths, that research shows. Some studies show that girls are more well-rounded and prefer subjects involving people rather than inanimate objects like computers and beakers.

The Government Accountability Office in 2004 found that women’s participation in the sciences had increased, particularly in the biology field, but federal agencies needed to do more to ensure compliance with Title IX. "A few studies also suggest that discrimination may still affect women’s choices and professional progress," the report states.

The National Science Foundation last year released a report conducted by the University of Maryland, College Park, focusing on women’s careers in the chemical industry. It’s Elemental found, among other things, that some women still perceive sexist discrimination, which may impact their career advancement. Women who felt positive about their work environments reported lower levels of discrimination. NSF said the results indicated that top-level managers still need to develop and enforce policies and initiatives to combat sexism in the workplace.

"While women are taking on leadership roles in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] industries, the number of women in those roles and the rate at which it is happening is disappointingly slow," said Judith Giordan of NSF. "Opportunities for the next generation of women to thrive in industrial settings will increase as younger women coming up through the pipeline are better informed and prepared."