Abstract
Despite increasing gender equality within society and a continued growth for women in many sports, including those traditionally seen as rooted in the male domain, sports remain gendered and stereotypical, and even more so when looking at coaching in sport. In this gendered division in sport, coaching opportunities remain limited in women’s sports and are mostly absent in men’s sports. Coaches are still vastly under-represented, and the coaching profession remains a white male-dominated occupation in which women are marginalised, bullied, harassed, and excluded. The majority of coaches in most sports are male, with women coaches making up a small percentage. Significantly, the gender disparity becomes greater as the coaching pathway narrows. Initial research into this topic focused on one sport, which looked at the experiences of women tennis coaches in the UK. Subsequent research was broadened to explore the experiences of women coaches in other sports in different countries. Findings show that whilst it is a changing landscape, it is a slow one and differs across different sports and different countries, whereby women coaches continue to experience sexism and discrimination in their professions. Research comprised a mixed methods approach consisting of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Key findings are presented.
Presenters
Urszula WolskiAssociate Lecturer and External Research Supervisor, School of Human and Social Sciences, Buckinghamshire New University, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
SPORT, COACHING, GENDER
