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Are Women Coached by Women More Likely to Become Sport Coaches? Head Coach Gender and Female Collegiate Athletes’ Entry into the Coaching Profession
Abstract
A plethora of research on barriers facing women in the coaching profession exists, but less attention has been devoted to female student-athletes’ transition into coaching. Some research suggests that female athletes who are coached by women are more likely to become coaches. In the present study, existing research is extended by examining the relationship between collegiate female basketball players’ post-playing career behavior and the gender of their collegiate head coach. Two research questions are addressed: (1) Are female collegiate Division-I basketball players who are coached by female head coaches more likely to enter the coaching profession than athletes who are coached by men? And; (2) If female basketball players do enter coaching, are those who were coached by women more likely to persist in coaching? Collegiate head coach gender did not emerge as a significant predictor of athletes’ likelihood to enter coaching, but logistic regression indicated that athletes who did enter coaching were 4.1-times more likely to stay in coaching if they had a female head coach. This study extends the scarce and outdated body of research on the potential salience of same-sex coaching role models for female athletes and provides baseline data on collegiate athletes’ entry rate into coaching, lending support to advocacy aimed at reversing the current stagnation of women in the sport coaching profession.
... However, the self-efficacy means for male athletes was significantly higher than for female athletes, which might be explained by the widespread prejudice against female coaches, even among athletes who have been exposed to female coaches. Instead, the 'role model effect' might be limited to situations in which an athlete has a highquality relationship with a coach (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). In their study, Moran-Miller and Flores (2011) reported that athletes who had high quality relationships with their female coaches had higher coaching self-efficacy. ...
... At the same time, it is important to emphasise that the most persuasive sources and forms of support may lie in variables that this study did not address. According to SCCT, there are many personal and environmental factors that affect career choice, and these could not all be included in this study (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Previous studies (Cunningham et al., 2005;Wasend & LaVoi, 2019) have demonstrated that students' interest in athletic occupations may not always translate into those careers if they do not receive outside support from coaches or other similar figures. ...
... According to SCCT, there are many personal and environmental factors that affect career choice, and these could not all be included in this study (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Previous studies (Cunningham et al., 2005;Wasend & LaVoi, 2019) have demonstrated that students' interest in athletic occupations may not always translate into those careers if they do not receive outside support from coaches or other similar figures. ...
Background: While studies have addressed the reasons why coaches choose or leave the coaching profession, an initial inquiry into coaching should focus on the level of interest among athletes in becoming coaches.Objectives: The study investigated differences between male and female athletes’ intention to pursue a coaching career in South Africa.Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional research design involving 200 (152 male and 48 female; Mage = 29.21, standard deviation [s.d.] = 4.75) athletes. Participation in the study was voluntary. Data were collected through various scales assessing athletes’ self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers and supports, choice goals and intention to coach.Results: The findings showed that male athletes recorded significantly (p 0.05) higher mean values for self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, choice goals and intention to coach than female athletes. Two factors were shown to be independently predictive of the intention to coach: self-efficacy (β = -0.21, p 0.01) and barriers (β = 0.19, p 0.01).Conclusion: This study provides novel information to sports federations on the factors influencing athletes’ career aspirations.Contribution: This study adds to the body of knowledge on interest in coaching after an athlete’s playing career is over and offers baseline data for encouraging and enlisting athletes as coaches.
... For example, studies suggest that women are underrepresented in sports science undergraduate programs in Spain (Serra et al., 2019), elite sports coaching (Cunningham et al., 2007), and in management positions in athletic departments (Wells & Kerwin, 2017) due to negative expectations about their potential career success (Clopton, 2015). Through the lens of social cognitive career theory, Wasend and LaVoi (2019) addressed how women were more likely to remain in coaching when they had a woman head coach during their active playing careers. ...
... Furthermore, the presence of SMES professors as role models might buffer women's negative expectations about pursuing a career in a men-dominated discipline like SMES. In line with social cognitive career theory (Bandura, 1977;Schunk & Usher, 2019), role models might have a positive impact on women students' and faculty members' self-efficacy (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Additionally, the results suggest that not only the presence of one woman or man SMES role model has a positive effect on career objectives of women but also a higher number of both types of role models. ...
This study investigated the perception of role model attributes of women and men sport professors, how these attributes influence the choice of academic role models, and how such role models affect career objectives. The study draws on social cognitive (career) theory. Data were collected with a quantitative online survey ( N = 792) targeted at major students (under- and postgraduate [ n = 515], doctoral [ n = 122]), and faculty members (postdoc researchers [ n = 43] and professors [ n = 112]), in sport management/economics/sociology or a general sports-science program in different countries. Data were analyzed by mean comparisons and regression analyses. The results suggest that women perceive women professors as more competent and as better teachers. Women perceive more similarity with women professors, and the intention to imitate the role model seems to influence both women and men in their role model choice. Women’s interest in an academic career is positively impacted by women and men role models, while men’s career objectives are only influenced by men professors. Implications of the study are that the applied theoretical framework is appropriate for investigating both women’s and men’s role models and career objectives. Furthermore, the study helps academic policymakers and sport faculty members to understand the importance of professors as role models.
... Por último, se encontró una diferencia significativa en la edad, con una media más baja entre las entrenadoras, que puede estar mostrando justamente que la profesión para ellas aún está en desarrollo (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019), por lo tanto, hay una menor cantidad de entrenadoras con más años de experiencia. ...
... El contexto sociocultural crea barreras asociando al deporte y liderazgo con características tradicionales masculinas, valorando los deportes masculinos sobre los femeninos y privilegiando el comportamiento de entrenadores hombres. Muchas veces, esta falta de apoyo ubica a la mujer en un lugar de menor percepción de eficacia en su rol de entrenadora porque internaliza estos estereotipos (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Por otro lado, dado que diferentes estudios muestran que en función de su género los deportistas perciben de diferente manera las conductas de sus entrenadores (Raimundi, Celsi, & Otero, 2020;Raimundi, Celsi, Otero, et al., en prensa) y también hay un efecto diferente respecto del género de los profesores (Castillo et al., 2018), será necesario desarrollar futuros estudios que permitan profundizar estos aspectos. ...
El objetivo de esta investigación fue estudiar las actitudes sexistas ambivalentes de los entrenadores y entrenadoras hacia las mujeres y hacia los hombres y su relación con la percepción del clima motivacional que crean en sus equipos. Participaron 93 entrenadores y entrenadoras (varones 65%, n = 6 0 ; mujeres 35%, n = 3 3 ) de entre 19 y 65 años ( M = 3 2 , 5 ; DT = 10,4), quienes respondieron un cuestionario sociodemográfico, los cuestionarios de Sexismo Ambivalente (hacia la mujer y hacia el hombre) y el Cuestionario de Clima Motivacional Empowering y Disempowering creado por el Entrenador. Se realizaron comparaciones de grupo, análisis de conglomerados y correlaciones entre las variables estudiadas. Los resultados mostraron que no existe una diferencia significativa entre las actitudes sexistas en función del género. Sin embargo, al considerar la relación entre la autopercepción de las actitudes sexistas y el clima que crean en sus entrenamientos y competencias, se encontraron diferencias en función del género de los entrenadores. Las actitudes sexistas intentan mantener los roles de género tradicionales, con actitudes discriminatorias (hostiles) y con otras ocultas tras la protección (benevolentes). Estas actitudes se relacionan con climas motivacionales disempowering, que pueden ser obstaculizadores para el desarrollo positivo de los y las deportistas.
... These positions often match traditional conceptions about authority, decision-making, and physical skills, which have long been associated with men. Because men mainly occupied these roles over time, the culture and structure of sport organisations reinforced this trend, making it harder for women to position themselves in these roles (Kavoura & Kokkonen, 2021;Solanas et al., 2022;Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). For instance, hiring and promotion processes could implicitly favour men because of gendered expectations about leadership or the belief that sport coaching for competition is more of a "man's job." ...
Gender disparity in employment remains a pervasive global issue, and the sport and physical activity (SPA) sector is no exception. Despite a notable increase in women’s sport participation in recent years, this growth has not yet fully translated into significant strides toward gender parity in employment, as men continue to hold most SPA-related occupations. This study investigated the persistent gender inequalities in the SPA industry, focusing on the Madrid region in Spain. A survey was conducted with 400 SPA professionals—102 women and 298 men—to examine occupational representation, employment pathways, employment determinants, contractual arrangements, salary differentials, and organisational affiliations. The findings confirm the underrepresentation of women across all domains of SPA employment, especially in sport coaching for competition. The results showed that recruitment and hiring of women rely primarily on curriculum vitae reviews or public examinations, unlike their male counterparts who lean on their social networks or personal referrals to secure employment in the SPA sector. Findings also revealed that men hold a substantial proportion of formal and informal contracts, including non-contracted jobs, affirming their dominance in both ends of the SPA contractual employment spectrum. Moreover, the study indicated that women often face unfavourable work conditions, including extended working hours and salary differentials. Informed by institutional theory and intersectionality, the discussion highlights the entrenched structures, norms, and practices that reinforce the marginalisation of women based on overlapping identities, sustaining employment practices and outcomes over time. Initiatives are proposed to strengthen equitability and transparency in hiring practices, increase job security, and improve work conditions, enabling organisations and institutions in Madrid to mobilise resources and programmes that foster gender parity in the SPA sector. By advocating gender-informed initiatives that challenge embedded norms and biases, recommendations may be adapted to diverse contexts and cultures where similar gender disparities exist in SPA industries worldwide.
... The underrepresentation of women in non-player roles is a problem for sport, society, and women. Research shows that women in non-player roles also benefit by developing life skills and acting as a positive role model for other women and girls (10,11). Individual benefits for women volunteers can include opportunities to build social networks, personal and career development, and increasing self-confidence (12)(13)(14). ...
Introduction
Women are underrepresented in volunteer non-player roles in community sporting clubs, particularly in traditionally male sports such as football (soccer), where participation rates for men and boys remain higher than women and girls. Experiences of women volunteering in community sporting clubs are not well-represented in research literature. By exploring women's experiences volunteering in community Australian Football clubs, the present research aimed to understand the barriers and facilitators of women's participation in volunteer non-player community sport club roles. Our intention is that our findings will provide empirical basis for the design of efficacious evidence-based interventions and initiatives to help close the gender gap of volunteerism rates and experiences, thus facilitating equal opportunities for women to access associated individual social, physical, and mental health benefits of sports volunteering.
Method
We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with six women from four Australian Football clubs, to determine barriers and facilitators to volunteering.
Results
Reflexive thematic analysis of barriers generated six themes: high expectations of self, intersectionality (of gender with motherhood or race), constrained resources, interpersonal disconnection, lack of organisational support and structure, and gender role assumptions and stereotypes. Analysis of facilitators produced six themes: having or building confidence, positive reinforcement, social connection, deliberate efforts to engage women, role autonomy and shaping, and supportive culture within a club or governing body.
Discussion
Findings revealed that impacts on women's development in non-player roles exist at the individual level, including the interaction of gender, race, and parental status, but also extend beyond this to personal, interpersonal, organisational, and sociocultural factors. Given our research findings we make seven recommendations for governing bodies and community football clubs to enhance volunteering gender equity: 1. Establish support for women by dividing work evenly among volunteers; 2. Provide clear descriptions of non-player roles; 3. Match the skill sets of new women volunteers to suitable roles; 4. Implement mentorship programs to aid collaboration among women who volunteer; 5. Educate communities about gender biases and assumptions; 6. Monitor and seek feedback on gendered task allocation to ensure women's unpaid labour is not disproportionate to men's; and 7. Promote and publicise women in non-player roles to enhance women's visibility and acceptance in community football clubs
... Till date, the coaching profession is dominated by men due to dearth of female in coaching roles [37]. According to [38], female athletes who received coaching from a female head coach were four times more likely to go on to become coaches themselves than those who did not receive such exposure. The significance of female athletes having access to role models who not only share their gender but also participate in sports was emphasized by [39]. ...
Research on women's empowerment in the sports sector is a key factor for considering the important issues that impact women's leadership, participation, and achievement in sports. Recognizing various key challenges in terms of research helps to progress targeted suitable strategies and favorable policies that promote equity and inclusivity. In this research article, the approaches for finding the most important criterion in women's empowerment for sports are demonstrated. The relevant criteria are short out by doing a literature review, experts' opinions, and direct interaction with associated persons in the sports sector. The solution methodology for finding the criterion preferences is taken as a well-known multi-criterion decision-making method, namely the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. Due to the presence of uncertainty in the data sets, pentagonal fuzzy sets data is considered. The whole proposed approach is followed by numerical and graphical illustrations.
... However, research focusing on women coaches remains scarce. Scholars warn that women are still underrepresented as coaches (Guimarães et al., 2023;Wasend & LaVoi, 2019) and this gender imbalance is greater in elite sport compared to grassroot levels (Perondi et al, 2022;Borrueco et al., 2023;Pfister, 2010). A recent report on girls and women in sport showed that women represent only 19% of head coaches in NCAA Division I track and field (Boucher et al., 2021). ...
Gender inequality remains a pervasive issue in sports, attracting increasing attention in contemporary research. Despite this, scant scholarly focus has been directed towards the participation of women in athletics. This study sought to investigate the involvement of women as athletes, coaches, and referees across various age categories and events within the Brazilian Athletics Championship 2019. We assessed publicly available data from the championship, specifically the number of women in these roles. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, Chi-Square test for association estimation, and one sample t-tests for mean frequency comparisons. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Our findings revealed no significant association between event type and age category, indicating a similar frequency of female athlete participation across different events and age groups. Notably, the average participation of women as athletes (42%) and coaches (19%) was statistically below the 50% threshold (t=4.595, p<0.001; t=25.00, p<0.001, respectively). Women represented 41% of the referees and did not show a significant difference to 50% (t=2.973, p=0.058). There was a significant association between gender and sport position with a higher participation of women as athletes and referees compared to coaches. In this study we show that, although there is a movement towards quantitative equality, women are still underrepresented as athletes, coaches, and referees in athletics, emphasizing the imperative for investment in sports policies, sports programs development geared towards fostering gender equality in athletics practices, and a qualitative comprehension of the challenges and barriers these professionals face. Keywords: Gender; social justice; sport psychology; sport management; leadership
... Research has demonstrated that exposure to women playing sport can enhance familiarity, liking, and reduce prejudice towards female athletes (Dietz, 2023;Scheadler & Wagstaff, 2018). Furthermore, girls and women athletes who have been coached by a woman head coach are four times more likely to pursue coaching positions themselves compared to those who have not had such exposure (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). This effect aligns with contact theory, which posits that exposure to a group reduces prejudice against them (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). ...
The underrepresentation of women in sports coaching, linked to discrimination and bias may, according to contact theory, be mitigated by increasing the visibility of women coaches, especially among children. Our study examined whether young athletes exposed to women coaches affected their explicit and implicit biases compared to unexposed peers. Seventy-five children aged between 4-17 years were evaluated using two explicit attitude measures and an Implicit Association Task. Results indicated that participants with women coach experience were more explicitly satisfied with woman coaches, preferred them more as potential coaches, and associated men with sports less than those without such exposure. Whilst exposure and implicit bias significantly predicted explicit satisfaction, exposure did not moderate the bias relationship. This suggests that exposure to women coaches reduces negative attitudes in young athletes but does not significantly affect the underlying influence of implicit biases, indicating a need for more comprehensive strategies to address gender inequalities in sports coaching.
... Women coaches are also more likely to inspire future women coaches. Women athletes who enter into coaching are four times more likely to stay in coaching if they also have a woman as head coach (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Furthermore, research suggests that traditional mothering skills including role modeling, life skill development, care, compassion, and interpersonal skills translate well to youth sport coaching (Leberman & LaVoi, 2011). ...
Coaches play an instrumental role in the experiences of youth sport participants. Though girls participate in youth sport at similar rates as boys, coaching positions continue to be dominated by men. Existing research supports the value of diverse role models, especially for culturally diverse youth, and women coaches of color are especially important in sport given the low participation rates of ethnocultural minorities. Given the importance of diverse role models as sport coaches, this study investigates the experiences of women of color who coach sport at the recreational level. Based on interviews with 14 individuals, and grounded in socioecological theory, our findings describe the experience of research participants at each level (individual, interpersonal, organizational, and sociocultural) with a focus on the entry experience, barriers, and supports. Findings suggest that gendered and racial norms influence experiences across the model, and further lead to practical implications for sport managers.
... Researchers have explored the challenges women often face in securing professional coaching opportunities, highlighting a lack of support from personal networks, access to mentors, guidance on navigating challenges between career and life transitions, and available funding (e.g., Burton & LaVoi, 2016). Moreover, supporting women's access to same-gender role models and a network of women throughout their athletic careers may be beneficial for helping to stay in coaching (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Banwell et al. (2021) have called for more explorations of how women can access credible mentors in sport to advance our understanding of how to use mentorship to create and, more importantly, maintain opportunities for women in coaching. ...
Despite recent advancements for women in leadership roles, women remain underrepresented in sport coaching contexts. Mentorship has been advocated as a potential avenue for advancing and sustaining the careers of women coaches. In line with this, national sporting bodies have implemented mentorship programs to pair new and aspiring women coaches with senior leaders. While recent evaluations show promising results, research is needed to understand how these programs are conceptualized, implemented, and experienced by program participants. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore stakeholders’ experiences in two Canadian women in coaching mentorship programs. Perspectives were gathered from 21 Canadian sport stakeholders that included program mentees, mentors, and staff. Data were analyzed using a reflexive thematic approach. Findings demonstrate the need for purposefully recruiting both mentor and mentee coaches to sustain meaningful partnerships. Additionally, participants highlighted the need for sport organizations to situate women in coaching as a priority and engage in sponsorship and long-term planning for sustaining women’s advancements in coaching. This study explores women in coaching mentorship programs from multiple perspectives, which may inform future formalized mentorship opportunities for women coaches by addressing identified challenges and barriers.
... Nonetheless, the paucity of women coaches and women leaders, especially within the highest levels of performance sport, was thought to be the direct result of a dearth of women coach role models (Fasting et al., 2013). However, more recently, it has been found that women role models and mentors for women coaches do exist, and are crucial for development (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Norman (2012) noted women acknowledged the importance of supportive networks, which were led by women in high-level coaching who help in providing opportunities to learn and not fear of failure while developing their coaching practice. ...
Women coaches have remained underrepresented within sports coaching at all levels. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to describe the factors surrounding the development, progression, and retention of women coaches within the United Kingdom. The study involved semistructured interviews with 15 women coaches who were coaching female athletes in team sports. Content analysis of the qualitative data identified barriers and enablers at individual, interpersonal, organisational, and sociocultural levels. Results indicated that women coaches face several barriers because of their gender, which their men counterparts do not often encounter. Practically, individuals and organisations can both take action to reduce damaging stereotypical ideologies that produce challenging predicaments for women within the coaching landscape.
... Based on the experiences of women coaches, increasing opportunities for mentorship and support is a prominent and effective recommendation for helping to support women and bolster their representation and recognition as valued members in coaching. Women coaches who have formal and informal mentoring relationships during all stages of their career were more likely to continue in coaching, and progress to a higher level (Banwell et al., 2019;Wasend and LaVoi, 2019;Norman et al., 2021). ...
Mentorship programs have been shown to help under-represented women navigate their environments, but little research has been done on mentorship programs in sport coaching in Canada. The first of its kind in Canada, the Black Female Coach Mentorship Program (BFCMP) created by the Black Canadian Coaches Association in partnership with the Coaching Association of Canada caters to an historically excluded population: Black, Biracial, and Indigenous women coaches. The research aimed to understand the experiences of program participants to better inform policy, decision-making, and sustainability of the BFCMP. Through mentorship session observations, one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 15 of the 27 inaugural BFCMP mentors and mentees, and thematic analysis, we determined the ability to form a trusted community was a promising practice for coach mentorship programs. Our findings suggest that participants, the majority of whom were the only Black woman coach in their program/institution, benefit from mentorship because of the opportunities to help each other develop as leaders, build relationships to resist loneliness, and nurture resilience through community.
... Females coached by females are more likely to stay in coaching (Wasend and LaVoi, 2019). This is a pull factor that bodes well for women's Gaelic football clubs, as if current players are coached by females, they too might transition into coaching. ...
In Ireland, the majority of coaches at non-elite level are volunteers and within the female-only team sport of women's Gaelic football, most qualified coaches are women. Yet, little is known on the club specific experiences of volunteer women coaches in non-elite sport. To address this gap, 11 women coaches, from three Gaelic Football clubs, were interviewed to explore the influence of the community-based club environment on their support and development in the role. The participants were actively coaching and part of a Community of Practice (CoP) focusing on developing their club's coaching structures. A creative non-fiction approach combined the key themes from the 11 interviews into three coach profiles of a novice coach, experienced coach, and a player-coach. Retention and recruitment, support structures within the club, and club culture and norms were the key themes identified. This study recommends that clubs employ support structures that support and develop volunteer women coaches and address any behavior in the club that negatively impacts on their role.
... Según Alfaro (2004), la falta de equidad en el camino de las mujeres al alto rendimiento se da en el ámbito escolar (se generan menos expectativas en sus profesores), familiar (se presta menos atención a los intereses deportivos de las hijas) y en el ámbito profesional, en el que claramente existe una diferencia en los recursos económicos para el deporte femenino. Esta situación puede generar que los varones perciban mayor entusiasmo y confianza y se involucren más en la realización del deporte, mientras que estas diferencias ubican a las mujeres en un lugar de menor percepción de eficacia, dado que se internalizan estos estereotipos (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). ...
Introducción/objetivo. El objetivo de esta investigación es examinar el poder predictivo de la percepción de los estilos interpersonales de entrenadores/as, padres y madres en el compromiso e intención de abandono de adolescentes deportistas argentinos de alto rendimiento, considerando el papel del género en esta relación. Método. Participaron 234 adolescentes de entre 12 y 16 años (M = 14.48, DT = 1.09) seleccionados para los Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud —Buenos Aires 2018—, quienes cumplimentaron cuestionarios para la evaluación de las variables de interés. Resultados. Los varones perciben mayores niveles de compromiso que las mujeres y estas perciben mayor apoyo a la autonomía de la madre. El apoyo a la autonomía del entrenador tuvo mayor capacidad predictiva en el compromiso de los varones y en la intención de abandono del deporte de las mujeres. En ambos géneros, el efecto del apoyo a la autonomía del entrenador fue mayor que el de los padres. Conclusiones. Estos resultados muestran la importancia de los otros significativos en la participación deportiva y contribuyen al conocimiento de los factores que pueden favorecer el desarrollo positivo en deportistas adolescentes de alto rendimiento.
... However, there are a range of barriers for women in coaching roles including a lack of support, inadequate salary, job insecurity, as well as difficulties in working with parents/spectators and coaching at weekends and evenings [34]. There is growing body of evidence that females in sport benefit from other female role models, both in participation and in coaching or non-player roles, and that female players often prefer female coaches [8,35]. This current study shows that women's involvement in administrative roles has decreased from 50 % to 2016 compared to 46 % in 2018, although this shift may not be cause for concern. ...
Abstract Background Throughout the ecosystem of sport, women have been and continue to be underrepresented at all levels compared to men. The capacity of community-level sport is heavily reliant on the many non-player roles including governance, as well as administration, coaching and officiating. Recently there has been increased attention to improving the gender balance in sport. The aim of this study is to investigate the proportions of women engaged in non-playing roles in sport (2016–2018). Methods This study involved secondary analysis of the AusPlay survey, a national population survey, funded by Sport Australia. This study utilised data from people aged 15-years or older about their involvement in non-playing roles in sport, and their demographic data. Survey respondents were asked “During the last 12 months, have you been involved with any sports in a nonplaying role, such as official, coach, referee, administrator, etc?” Analysis of non-player role responses focussed specifically on the top four non-player role categories; coach, official, administrator and manager. Frequency analysis concentrated on the distribution of men and women involvement in a non-player capacity for the three years, with detailed analysis of the most recent year (2018). Results In this study of 61,578 Australians there was a higher proportion of men in non-player roles in sport compared to women, across each of the three years (2018: men 55 %, women 46 %). Involvement of women in coaching increased significantly from 38 % to 2016 to 44 % in 2018 (p
... Female networks and role models have been instrumental in inspiring, educating, informing and encouraging women to enter other roles where women are underrepresented in sport (i.e. coaching) (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). In research on female officials, mentorship has also been expressed as being fundamental to women's success (Nordstrom et al., 2016), hence the importance of increasing representation at the grassroots level where female officials gain their initial experience. ...
Research purpose
The purpose of this scoping review is to explore the extant literature devoted to female officials at the community level of sport in order to identify existing knowledge and to determine a future research agenda that will address the underrepresentation of women amongst sport officials. Over the past two decades, there has been an increase in female sport participation in countries around the world, however, this has not been matched with an increase in the number of females taking up roles as officials (referees, umpires, judges, scorers, etc.) at the community level of sport.
Research methods
This paper uses a scoping review methodology to synthesize and analyse the extant research published on female community sport officials, to identify gaps in the existing literature, and to provide directions for future research.
Results and findings
It identifies a general lack of reported research on female officials within community levels of sport and that the existing research that has been published to date has focused on four themes: motives, barriers, supports and retention.
Implications
The paper proposes a research agenda focused on seven key themes: policy and governance, officiating pathways, recruitment, support, retention, performance, stress and well-being, as well as suggestions for research methods to explore these themes. Summarizing the current research literature on female community sport officials may help researchers, practitioners and policy makers understand the range of issues associated with the experience of female community sport officials and begin to prioritize efforts to address the lack of female sports officials.
... Sport, and coaching in particular, should be a primary 'space' of interest. It has a longstanding history and organisational culture of creating and maintaining binary gender difference (Messner, 2002), but women are increasingly engaging in it and are increasingly contesting traditional gender discourses in and through it (Bunsell & Shilling, 2011;Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Thus, to fully understand any progress, we need to recognise new or alternative femininities that are emerging to overcome longstanding patriarchal structures in sport, something which has been absent in studies of women in coaching to date. ...
A plethora of work has identified forms and sources of gender inequality in sport coaching. Quantitative studies with psychological framings dominate the literature. However, a smaller and more recent body of qualitative work has identified structural gender hierarchies as the root of inequalities, specifically the prevalence of hegemonic masculinity. Fewer studies have contextualised understandings of women’s experiences of this, particularly at grassroots levels and there is little acknowledgement of a notable shift in the visibility of women’s power and presence in society including sport. Thus, in this study [Gill, R. (2007). Gender and the media. Polity Press] postfeminist sensibility was used to examine seven female coaches’ experiences of various grassroots sports settings, specifically what might be novel in women’s contemporary coaching experiences, but also to acknowledge any persistent structural inequalities. Findings suggest that while female coaches are continually facing challenges borne out of dominant forms of masculinity which remain deeply rooted in sport cultures, they are actively contesting and navigating these by drawing upon performed masculinities. Consequently, new femininities have emerged, but these are fragile, often misinterpreted and can lead to women struggling to progress their coaching careers. Future work in this field should look to develop the use of postfeminist lenses in similar ways, to further identify new(er) femininities which have the potential to grow and develop women’s representation in coaching.
... This is a space for action and improvement. Quality role models and mentors exist and more can be developed (Clarkson, Cox, & Thelwell, 2019;Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). And, as one of Banwell et al.'s participants highlighted, sponsorship is critical too as it is more about ". . . ...
In 2015, Dr. Jen Welter became the first woman to coach in the National Football League (NFL). Other female coaches followed. Yet, sports-studies scholars know little about the media’s response to these football pioneers. This paper presents critical themes on how popular media discussed female coaches by analyzing the hiring announcements of four women who coach or have coached in the NFL. Utilizing a critical feminist lens, this paper demonstrates that media outlets reproduced conventional media tropes by reassuring readers that women have the requisite knowledge, trivializing women’s achievements, underscoring the need for male player support, emphasizing appearance, and permitting sexist comments. However, it is evident that online publishers are simultaneously making progress. In most cases, the articles represented the coaches in ways that differ from how female athletes have been historically depicted. This research reveals nonlinear and incremental progress toward gender equality in football.
Résumé
En ce début du XXIe siècle où les mouvements féministes gagnent en envergure et en profondeur, les cinéastes tentent de proposer une nouvelle image de la sportive plus en phase avec les aspirations sociétales. En effet, les personnages qu’ils campent progressivement dans leurs fictions se libèrent des stéréotypes sexués, transcendant ainsi les archétypes du « garçon manqué » ou de l’« éternel féminin ». À l’écran, ces femmes athlétiques se démarquent par leur diversité et incarnent tout aussi bien un militantisme féminin, une ascension sociale, une revendication identitaire, une dénonciation d’abus sexuel ou encore une expression ethnique. Cette transformation contemporaine du regard cinématographique reflète l’engagement renouvelé de plusieurs scénaristes et réalisateurs qui, désormais ancrés dans une approche intersectionnelle, reconnaissent non seulement les spécificités de chaque individu mais aussi celles propres à chaque nation. À travers une analyse comparative de vingt-trois films français et vingt-deux films chinois, cette thèse s’attèle à examiner la reconstruction en cours de l’imaginaire collectif sur la femme sportive, afin d’appréhender l’évolution des mentalités du temps présent. Elle met en évidence un cinéma français qui démantèle graduellement la masculinité (ou la féminité) hégémonique, et un cinéma chinois qui, de manière beaucoup plus discrète, conteste la suprématie du régime communiste sur les individus.
Abstract
In the early 21st century, as feminist movements gain momentum and depth, numbers of filmmakers endeavor to present a novel portrayal of the female athlete that resonates with societal aspirations. Indeed, the characters they progressively depict in their narratives break away from gendered stereotypes, thus transcending the archetypes of the “tomboy” or the “eternal feminine”. On screen, these sportswomen distinguish themselves through their diversity, embodying facets such as feminist activism, social advancement, identity assertion, denunciation of sexual abuse, and even ethnic expression. This contemporary transformation of cinematic perspective reflects the renewed commitment of numerous screenwriters and directors who, now firmly rooted in an intersectional approach, recognize not only the specificities of each individual but also those of each nation. Through a comparative analysis of twenty-three French films and twenty-two Chinese films, this thesis undertakes the examination of the ongoing reconstruction of the collective imagination surrounding the female athlete, with the aim of comprehending the evolution of contemporary attitudes. It highlights a French cinema that gradually dismantles hegemonic masculinity (or femininity) and a Chinese cinema that, in a more subdued manner, challenges the supremacy of the communist regime over individuals.
This guide is designed to facilitate the creation of the ICOACHGIRLS programs that support women in coaching, by providing nine elements relating to women in coaching for delivery partners to consider. These elements are not meant to be overly prescriptive - they are purposely generic as they are meant to be applied in relevant ways across national and local contexts. However, the overarching elements should be considered in the design of programs focusing on female coaches.
This guide is, in alignment with other guides of ICOACHGIRLS programs, structured around the Youth Sport Compass, a tried and tested framework that provides direction how to create a positive and safe sports climate. It is built on four evidence-based pillars: the developmentoriented, the motivational, the caring and the socially safe climate. Attention must be paid to all four pillars in order to achieve the best climate in youth sport. This approach is considered useful for creating an optimal climate for women in coaching as well.
The underrepresentation of women in sport coaching continues to be recognised by researchers and some international organisations. Golf too suffers from a dramatic underrepresentation of women coaches. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women golf coaches and how they navigate this male-dominated coaching domain with a particular focus on experiences of advocacy. The research was designed to qualitatively capture women PGA Professionals’ lived experiences. Women PGA Professionals (N = 11) with 10–34 years of experience (M = 19.8) participated in semi-structured interviews that were structured on the four Ecological Systems Theory (EST) layers. Data were thematically analysed using the EST layers for initial categorization. From this, four themes were developed: recruitment and opportunity; on the course and in the pro shop; perceptions of women PGA Professionals; and advocacy and allies. The themes were part of two related processes: legitimisation and delegitimisation. These dual processes work to either validate women coaches—both as individuals and as a collective—or to undermine them within the profession, respectively, and operate over the four EST layers. Further, these processes are not always discreet and the two may overlap in unanticipated ways.
Spanish soccer coaching is almost exclusively male-dominated. Even in women’s soccer, women rarely have the opportunity to develop as coaches. Although some female ex-players have coached youth teams, very few have made it to directing elite female teams. The objective of this research was to examine the opinions of women coaches who have reached an elite level to understand the shortage of female coaches in Spanish women’s soccer. Fifteen female coaches with a mean coaching experience of 14 years underwent semi-structured interviews. The main factors identified as barriers were work conditions, low pay, gender stereotypes, lack of female role models, and a lack of effective hiring strategies. Despite this, it seems that, besides external discrimination, decisions made by women themselves have contributed to the lack of female coaches in Spanish elite women’s soccer.
Sport psychology (SP), is often dominated by hegemonic viewpoints, and has historically lacked multiculturalism and awareness of intersectional oppression and marginalized identities, resulting in feelings of alienation for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) practitioners. Literature from Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) recommends mentorship as a way to foster professional growth and well-being. However, recommendations are often vague concerning the obstacles to success, systemic racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression that affect young professionals. By combining the specific demands of SP with critical race theory, feminist and womanist mentorship practices, and intersectionality, we outline a model of mentorship that aims to foster well-being and retention for BIPOC professionals. Specific recommendations include (1) directly naming obstacles related to systemic oppression; (2) fostering a sense of mutual care, trust, and refuge between mentor and mentee; and (3) avoiding exploitation and advocating for mentee success and thriving. Questions to be considered are (1) whether same-identity mentorship is necessary for a successful mentor-mentee relationship; and (2) how to work within a neoliberal university or sporting system.
Lay summary: Mentorship is essential to becoming a competent and certified sport psychology professional. Research has noted that most sport psychologists are white and male, and we use various theories to examine how mentorship practices can improve so that more minority and female practitioners can join and thrive in the profession.
• IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
• In order to transform the field, mid-level and experienced sport psychology practitioners who have the capacity should provide caring, critical, and collaborative mentorship to BIPOC practitioners.
• Practitioners who serve as mentors should deliberately discuss the racism, misogyny, and other obstacles that exist in sports and academia.
• Mentors should borrow from feminist, womanist, CRT, and intersectionality scholars to create liberatory non-hierarchal relationships that foster institutional change.
The purpose of this study was to clarify the learning experiences that promote coaching self-efficacy, outcome expectation and interest in coaching for female basketball players by applying Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). We targeted 8 female basketball players who played in the top women’s basketball league in Japan, and conducted semi-structured interviews.
We found that the learning experiences for participants were 1) athlete experience, 2) coaching experience, 3) learning at university, 4) observation of various coaches and teachers, and 5) seminars for acquiring coaching licenses. Furthermore, it was clarified that each learning experience influenced cognitive factors (coaching self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and interest in coaching), and led to awareness of supports and barriers for coaches. These findings indicated that it was important to provide female basketball players some effective opportunities for experiencing coaching and learning about it. Additionally, improvements in the environment of coaches also helped female basketball players to reduce their anxiety about working as coaches.
Rédigé à la fin de janvier 2021 dans un contexte où la situation sanitaire continuait d'être problématique, ce bulletin se penche sur les occasions qu'offre la crise de la COVID-19 de repenser aux finalités du sport organisé au Québec. Pour ce faire, nous avons passé en revue la littérature portant sur les défis que la crise sanitaire pose au sport. L'arrêt prolongé des activités pour bon nombre de pratiquants sportifs a permis de réaliser que ce qui compte le plus, c'est de faire du sport tout en s'amusant. Depuis quelques années, le sport québécois se trouve dans une mouvance qui préconise de plus en plus l'harmonisation de la qualité de l'expérience sportive avec l'intégrité du pratiquant et la performance. La pandémie offre de multiples occasions de s'inscrire dans une démarche visant à promouvoir les valeurs du sport pour tous et du développement positif de la personne. Selon bon nombre d'experts, ces valeurs sont essentielles à l'adoption d'une pratique pérenne tout en permettant à ceux et celles qui le désirent de réaliser des prouesses sportives.
Although the sport of rugby union has expanded globally in both the men’s and women’s formats recently, there remains an under-representation of women coaches across all contexts. Research has focused its analysis on the under-representation of women coaches in a select few sports such as soccer. No extant research has empirically analyzed this under-representation within rugby union. This study addressed this research lacuna on why this under-representation exists from the perspective of 21 women rugby union coaches based within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The specific research objective was to analyze the coaches’ lived experiences of attending formal coach education courses in rugby union. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed thematically and conceptualized via an abductive logic against LaVoi’s Ecological-Intersectional Model and Pierre Bourdieu’s species of capital. Supportive and positive themes reported how the coach education courses had been delivered in a collegiate and lateral manner. Courses thus acted as settings where greater amounts of cultural and social capital could be acquired from both course tutors and peers. This enabled social networks to be made that were used for continual professional development beyond the courses. Barriers and negative experiences orientated upon the lack of empathy imparted by course tutors on account of men having fulfilled these roles on most occasions. Recommendations on how national governing bodies can improve the experiences of women coaches attending future coach education courses are discussed.
Sports coaching is traditionally a male-dominated profession all over the world, though there is no explicit evidence that either gender outperforms the other in this profession. The current paper aimed to uncover the differences between female and male coaches regarding their pedagogical and professional beliefs. A total of 357 basketball coaches (30.8% women and 69.2% men) working in Hungary responded to an online questionnaire. A background analysis of the sample revealed that most of the coaches manage youth teams and that women coach younger age groups than men. Female coaches proved to be more educated than their male counterparts, both in general and on a professional level. The results showed that, regardless of gender, the coaches were well aware of their pedagogical functions. Significant differences were found in terms of relationships, personal development, motivation, and discipline; the women reported higher values in all cases. Female coaches were also more concerned about factors that help gain respect and appreciation. Based on the results, education, qualifications, and pedagogical and professional views of coaches do not justify the underrepresentation of women in sports coaching. Club managers, sports federation boards, and other decision makers should promote programs that are aimed at engaging more women in sports coaching.
Presents an integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment. This theory states that psychological procedures, whatever their form, alter the level and strength of self-efficacy. It is hypothesized that expectations of personal efficacy determine whether coping behavior will be initiated, how much effort will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences. Persistence in activities that are subjectively threatening but in fact relatively safe produces, through experiences of mastery, further enhancement of self-efficacy and corresponding reductions in defensive behavior. In the proposed model, expectations of personal efficacy are derived from 4 principal sources of information: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. Factors influencing the cognitive processing of efficacy information arise from enactive, vicarious, exhortative, and emotive sources. The differential power of diverse therapeutic procedures is analyzed in terms of the postulated cognitive mechanism of operation. Findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive modes of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes. (21/2 p ref)
With the assumption that female athletes make up the most qualified pool of women for college athletics positions (Everhart & Chelladurai, 1998; Trudel & Gilbert, 2006), the purpose of the current study was to investigate why so few college coaches are women (Acosta & Carpenter, 2012). Additionally, the aim was to learn about the career plans of female student-athletes, what factors go into their decisions related to career aspirations, and how they perceive male dominated careers. Participants were 13 junior and senior female student athletes from a large Division I university in the northeast. Data collection consisted of 3 focus groups of 4-6 people and 5 follow-up individual interviews with athletes from 10 different varsity teams. Researchers conclude that pressure to conform to traditional gender roles leads the female athletes’ to view sport careers as masculine and to view their own female coaches negatively. Implications for sport managers and for future research are also discussed.
The proportion of women serving as head coaches of women's teams in the NCAA has steadily decreased from 90% in 1972 to 45.6% in 2000 (Acosta & Carpenter, 2000). To investigate this trend, aspects of Bandura's (1977, 1986) social cognitive theory was utilized to examine the relationship between coaching self-efficacy, desire to become a head coach, and occupational turnover intentions among assistant coaches of women's teams. Results indicated the male assistant coaches possessed greater coaching self-efficacy and desire to become a head coach while females had greater occupational turnover intentions. Further, regression analyses indicated that coaching self-efficacy predicted desire to become a head coach among both men and women but was only related to turnover for male assistant coaches. These results provide additional understanding as to why women constitute a smaller percentage of the coaches of women's teams.
The purpose of this study was to explore strategies for the development of aspiring female coaches based on the ideas of existing high-performance female coaches. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with national-level female coaches in the United Kingdom, four recurrent ideas for developing female coaches in a male-dominated profession emerged. These were (1) role modelling and mentoring, (2) greater frequency and quality of coaching opportunities, (3) the creation of supportive networks, and (4) a policy of positive discrimination. Using a feminist cultural studies conceptual framework, this paper highlights how a culture dominated by masculine hegemony restricts the participants' opportunities for career development. Their experiences also reveal a lack of responsibility taken by governing bodies for the development of aspiring female coaches. As a result, I make a call for the inclusion of a more complex, sustained programme of socio-cultural education for coaches to inform women of the reasons for their underrepresentation as coaches, and call for greater action and leadership to be taken by sporting governing bodies.
Recent theory and research suggest that certain situational factors can harm women’s math test performance. The three studies presented here indicate that female role models can buffer women’s math test performance from the debilitating effects of these situational factors. In Study 1, women’s math test performance was protected when a competent female experimenter (i.e., a female role model) administered the test. Study 2 showed that it was the perception of the female experimenter’s math competence, not her physical presence, that safeguarded the math test performance of women. Study 3 revealed that learning about a competent female experimenter buffered women’s self-appraised math ability, which in turn led to successful performance on a challenging math test.
Social cognitive career theory is used to investigate student intentions to enter the sport and leisure industry. Data are gathered from 197 undergraduate students from four universities located across the United States. Path analysis supports the general model, as self-efficacy and outcomes expectations hold positive associations with vocational interests, which in turn are positively related to choice goals. Self-efficacy is also positively associated with outcomes expectations. Additionally, through comparison of competing models, support is garnered for the effects of supports (i.e., human and social capital) and barriers (i.e., discrimination and lack of advancement opportunities) to be manifested on self-efficacy. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
This article presents a social cognitive framework for understanding three intricately linked aspects of career development: (a) the formation and elaboration of career-relevant interests, (b) selection of academic and career choice options, and (c) performance and persistence in educational and occupational pursuits. The framework, derived primarily from Bandura's (1986) general social cognitive theory, emphasizes the means by which individuals exercise personal agency in the career development process, as well as extra-personal factors that enhance or constrain agency. In particular, we focus on self-efficacy, expected outcome, and goal mechanisms and how they may interrelate with other person (e.g., gender), contextual (e.g., support system), and experiential/learning factors. Twelve sets of propositions are offered to organize existing findings and guide future research on the theory. We also present a meta-analysis of relevant findings and suggest specific directions for future empirical and theory-extension activity.
We conducted 2 studies to examine student athletes’ intentions to enter the coaching profession. In Study 1, participants responded to a questionnaire designed to assess the major constructs from social cognitive career theory. Results indicate that although racial minorities, relative to Whites, expected more positive outcomes with being a coach and had greater intentions to pursue that profession, they also anticipated more barriers associated with coaching. To clarify this relationship, we conducted a focus group interview (Study 2) with 6 male athletes of color. Participants indicated that prejudice and discrimination were expected across their potential vocational choices, not just coaching. Thus, given the many positives associated with coaching, they preferred to encounter those barriers in the coaching context.
African American athletes represent a sizeable portion of all intercollegiate athletic participants; however, African American coaches represent a small portion of the total coaching population. In attempting to identify why these differences exist, this study examined racial differences among student-athletes (N = 93) in the perceived opportunity in the coaching profession, interest in becoming a collegiate coach, and intent to become a collegiate coach. Results indicate that African American student-athletes perceived less opportunity and were less interested in becoming a collegiate coach; however, there were no differences in intent to become a coach.
Exploiting a randomized natural experiment in India, we show that female leadership influences adolescent girls’ career aspirations
and educational attainment. A 1993 law reserved leadership positions for women in randomly selected village councils. Using
8453 surveys of adolescents aged 11 to 15 and their parents in 495 villages, we found that, relative to villages in which
such positions were never reserved, the gender gap in aspirations closed by 20% in parents and 32% in adolescents in villages
assigned a female leader for two election cycles. The gender gap in adolescent educational attainment was erased, and girls
spent less time on household chores. We found no evidence of changes in young women’s labor market opportunities, which suggests
that the impact of women leaders primarily reflects a role model effect.
The purpose of this research report is to present an overview of an ongoing, international project designed to chart the developmental paths and activities of sport coaches. This brief report includes three sections: (a) conceptual framework used to guide the project, (b) project design and methodology, and (c) results from pilot studies with a sample of 15 successful coaches working in different sport contexts in the United States Unlike the findings for athletic profiles, where several trends across coaching contexts were evident, only one trend was found in how these diverse groups of coaches invested their time in coach developmental activities. In relation to other coaching activities very little time was devoted to formal coach education on an annual basis. The results reinforce the need to consider the coaching context when examining coach development and when designing coach development initiatives.
To test for the presence of role model effects of female high school faculty and professional staff on young women in high school, we estimate several models of educational attainment for young women using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Exposure to female high school faculty and professional staff has a positive impact on the educational attainment of young women. This result, combined with our finding that female faculty and professional staff have no significant impact on the educational attainment of young men, supports a female role model hypothesis.
In this paper, the authors empirically analyze the influence of the gender of the coach on team performance in women's soccer leagues. Moreover, the authors examine the role of initial experience of coaches (as professional players) as an attribute that converges with gender diversity and influence performance. The sample includes the top divisions in France, Germany, and Norway from 2004 to 2017. The results from the regression model show that the gender of the coach is not a significant determinant of team performance (points per game). In addition, the initial experience of coaches does not alter the results. Therefore, managerial decisions of clubs with regard to the employment of coaches should not rely on gender. © 2018 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand
The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the informal networks of both senior woman administrators (SWAs) and athletic directors (ADs) within National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institutions. Drawing on extant literature citing the underrepresentation of women in sport leadership positions, we incorporate a network approach to build and analyze affiliation networks of SWAs and ADs. Guided by the framework of Leadership in Networks, we argue that the social structures within which ADs and SWAs operate impact opportunities for leader emergence and leadership outcomes. By comparing the AD and SWA affiliation networks, we illustrate the differences in informal networks among men and women leaders in sport, highlighting how informal networks may contribute to the lack of women in sport leadership positions. Previous scholars have long cited an "old boys' club" as a barrier to women achieving leadership positions, but we argue these studies have largely relied on dispositional evidence rather than methodological and analytical strategies designed specifically to examine relationships and the corresponding network structures. Our results indicate that the SWA network is far less cohesive than the AD networks, and the few women in the AD networks are largely located outside the center of the affiliation networks. Implications regarding the impact of informal networks on the underrepresented nature of women in leadership positions are discussed.
Over the last 40 years, a growing body of literature pertaining to women in sports coaching has amassed predominantly in Western countries. Unfortunately, women coaches remain in the minority across the globe in nearly all sports at all levels, due to the complex, numerous and interconnected barriers they face. Women coaches are visible, powerful reminders that women can be and are successful leaders worthy of respect and admiration. A feminist position is necessary for change to occur specifically within the organizational structure of sport that privileges males, and for gender stereotypes and bias that impede career trajectories to be shifted. This chapter provides a historical overview of feminist sport scholarship, and how current scholars are using that scholarship to forward knowledge and social change.
During the past two decades the number of female athletes has increased while the number of female coaches has declined. The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons why NCAA Division I male and female coaches of women’s athletic teams enter and leave the profession. The findings indicate that coaches enter the profession to remain in competitive athletics and would leave the profession to spend more time with family and friends. Further research in this area is recommended to determine solutions to the problem of the declining number of female coaches.
Research pertaining to female coaches at the professional, intercollegiate, and interscholastic levels exists, but attention to females in positions of power in youth sport is limited. Given youth sport is an important social institution that affects millions of children and their families, it provides a rich opportunity for creating social change and challenging stereotypical beliefs pertaining to gender and leadership. This study uses the theoretical framework of occupational sex-segregation—specifically tokenism and marginalization (Kanter, 1977a, 1977b)—to examine the representation of females in positions of power (N = 5,683; Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Team Managers) within one Midwestern youth soccer association. Based on the data, female coaches are considered “tokens” within all boys’ teams and at the highest competitive level of girls’ teams, and are marginalized and underrepresented in all positions of power at almost all age groups and competitive levels. Implications and directions for f...
The decline in number of female coaches has been a serious concern of women in sport. This study investigated whether gender of coach would influence high school female basketball players specifically in relation to their future coaching self-efficacy, the level of competition at which they might choose to coach, and their ideas about the purposes of basketball. Results revealed that gender of coach did not influence self-efficacy for coaching but did influence level of competition. Perceived playing ability was found to be the strongest predictor of future coaching self-efficacy. In addition, some differences were found between male- and female-coached athletes and between male and female coaches concerning perceived purposes of basketball.
This study of 368 female undergraduates examined self-efficacy and role model influence as predictors of career choice across J. L. Holland's (1997) 6 RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional) types. Findings showed that levels of self-efficacy and role model influence differed across Holland types. Multiple regression analyses indicated that self-efficacy and role model influence accounted for significant variance in career choice for all 6 RIASEC types. Role model influence added to the prediction of career choice over and above the contribution of self-efficacy in all but 1 of the RIASEC types. The importance of attention to role models in career counseling is discussed.
The current study examined, via online focus groups, the consequences of work-family conflict at work and at home with 41 mothers who are Division I head coaches. In addition, the authors focused on the coping mechanisms that these women used to achieve success at work and quality of life with family. Results revealed that work-family conflict influenced outcomes with work (e.g., staffing patterns, relationships with athletes, team performance), family (e.g., time spent and relationships with children and spouses or partners), and life (e.g., guilt and exhaustion, balance and perspective, weaving work and family). Coping mechanisms included stress relief, self-awareness, organization and time management, sacrificing aspects of work, support networks, flexibility with hours, and familyfriendly policies and cultures. Implications are that the women work to promote change within their circle of influence. Although their efforts might not result in actual policy changes, over which they feel limited control, they might result in changes in perceptions and attitudes.
As numerous qualified women exit the workforce because of the challenges of balancing work and family, investigations of the work-family interface have become increasingly important. Research has indicated how multilevel factors (i.e., individual, organizational, and sociocultural) play a role in work-family conflict. Little research has examined these factors in relation to each other, however. In sport management, Dixon and Bruening (2005) argued that higher level factors (sociocultural and organizational) shape and constrain lower level behaviors (organizational and individual), which ultimately influence the perception and consequences of work-family conflict. The primary purpose of this investigation is to test and further develop Dixon and Bruening's multilevel framework. The current study used online focus groups for data collection from 41 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female head coaches with children to examine the factors that impacted work-family conflict from a top-down perspective. The results illuminated the experiences of the coaching mothers and the factors that affected their job and life satisfaction at each of the three levels. Particular attention was paid to how higher level factors such as work climate and culture shaped and constrained lower level attitudes and behaviors such as individual conflict and time management. These relationships highlighted how individual attitudes and behaviors reflect larger structural and social forces at work, and not simply individual choices.
Today, in a world quite different from the one that existed just thirty years ago, both girls and boys play soccer, baseball, softball, and other youth sports. Yet has the dramatic surge in participation by girls contributed to greater gender equality? In this engaging study, leading sociologist Michael A. Messner probes the richly complex gender dynamics of youth sports. Weaving together vivid first-person interviews with his own experiences as a volunteer for his sons' teams, Messner finds that despite the movement of girls into sports, gender boundaries and hierarchies still dominate, especially among the adults who run youth sports. His book widens into a provocative exploration of why youth sports matter-how they play a profound role in shaping gender, class, family, and community.
This study of 368 female undergraduates examined self-efficacy and role model influence as predictors of career choice across J. L. Holland's (1997) 6 RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional) types. Findings showed that levels of self-efficacy and role model influence differed across Holland types. Multiple regression analyses indicated that self-efficacy and role model influence accounted for significant variance in career choice for all 6 RIASEC types. Role model influence added to the prediction of career choice over and above the contribution of self-efficacy in all but 1 of the RIASEC types. The importance of attention to role models in career counseling is discussed.
A vast amount of literature exists pertaining to female coaches at all levels of competition from around the globe. Within this article, using Brofenbrenner's ecological systems theory, the complex and multidimensional barriers that affect, impede or prevent females from seeking or remaining in coaching positions, in addition to factors that support and facilitate career advancement and retention, are summarized. Barriers and supports represented in the literature are organized from most proximal (individual) to most distal (socio-cultural) to the coach. We conclude by identifying gaps in the research. The model can be used as a reflective heuristic to educate about the numerous dynamic organizational and societal barriers and supports engaged with by female coaches. In doing so, productive coping strategies can be learned and solutions and policy changes generated in order to increase opportunities for female coaches and make the environment within which they work increasingly inclusive, positive and supportive.
The data summarized in this paper represent 11 years (1977-1988) of information on the status of women in intercollegiate athletics gathered in an on-going national study of all four-year college and university members of the NCAA with intercollegiate athletic programs for women. It is noted that over this period there has been an increase in sports participation by girls and women and a decrease in women in leadership positions. (JD)
Reports a study of two-year college athletic administrators who evaluated the effectiveness of seven employment strategies and provided recommendations for increasing numbers of female coaches. Subjects perceived active involvement by administrators, increased opportunities for practical experience, and recruiting female athletes interested in coaching as the most effective procedures. (SM)
As Title IX celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary, many have noted its enormous positive effect on women's sports. But an unintended and too-often neglected byproduct is that as opportunities for female students have increased, opportunities for female professionals have declined. This Article focuses on the barriers that still confront women in college athletics, particularly those who seek professional positions in coaching and administration. Part I presents a brief overview of Title IX, which makes clear its limitations in securing gender equity. Part II.A discusses the declining representation and lower success rate of women coaches, while Part II.B explores the areas of Title IX (and accompanying federal statutory provisions) that have sought to secure their equal treatment. Part III presents the findings of an empirical survey of over 450 coaches of college women's sports concerning the barriers to gender equity and the role of Title IX. Part IV situates these findings in light of other research on obstacles for women in traditionally male-dominated workplaces, including coaching, and concludes with potential policy prescriptions.
Two studies examined the extent to which matching on gender determines the impact of career role models on the self. Because women face negative stereotypes regarding their competence in the workplace, they may derive particular benefit from the example of an outstanding woman who illustrates the possibility of overcoming gender barriers to achieve success. In contrast, men may not have the same need for same-gender role models. Study 1 assessed the impact of gender-matched and mismatched career role models on the self-perceptions of female and male participants. In Study 2, female and male participants were asked to describe a career role model who had inspired them in the past. In both studies, results indicated that female participants were more inspired by outstanding female than male role models; in contrast, gender did not determine the impact of role models on male participants.
Stereotype threat impairs performance in situations where a stereotype holds that one’s group will perform poorly. Two experiments investigated whether reminding women of other women’s achievements might alleviate women’s mathematics stereotype threat. In Experiment 1, college women performed significantly better on a difficult mathematics test when they were first told that women in general make better participants than men in psychology experiments. In Experiment 2, college women performed significantly better on a difficult mathematics test when they first read about four individual women who had succeeded in architecture, law, medicine, and invention. The results are seen as having implications for theories of stereotype threat, self-evaluation, and performance expectations.
In this study, we used social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) to examine the development of female athletes' career interest in coaching and, specifically, the impact of contextual factors (female coaching role models, working hours, and perceived discrimination) on coaching self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Participants were 205 predominantly White, heterosexual female student athletes. A path analysis indicated that role models and working hours predicted coaching self-efficacy, which predicted coaching outcome expectations. Additionally, coaching self-efficacy, coaching outcome expectations, and contextual factors predicted coaching interest. Practical implications are discussed as well as suggestions for further research in this relatively unexplored area.
This study investigated gender differences in the role of self-efficacy, occupational valence, valence of coaching, and perceived barriers in preference to coach at the high school, 2-year college, Division III, Division II, and Division I levels. The participants, 191 Big Ten university basketball players (94 men, 97 women), responded to a specially constructed instrument. The genders did not differ in their coaching self-efficacy, preferred occupational valence, and perceived barriers. Relative to men, women perceived greater valence in coaching (p < .001). Women with a female coach perceived greater valence in coaching (p < .05) and expressed less concern with perceived discrimination (p < .05) than those with a male coach. Perceived self-efficacy and preferred occupational valence were differentially related to the desire to coach at various levels. Working Hours most negatively affected the desire to coach at every level (R > .20).
Women in coaching: The work-life interface
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& J. Denison (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sports coaching
(pp. 411-423). London, UK: Routledge.
Does performance justify the underrepresentation of women coaches? Evidence from professional women's soccer. Sport Management Review. Advance online publication
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