Surviving rather than thriving: Understanding the experiences of women coaches using a theory of gendered social well-being

In shifting our gaze to the sociological impact of being in the minority, the purpose of this study was to substantiate a model of gendered social well-being to appraise women coaches’ circumstances, experiences and challenges as embedded within the social structures and relations of their profession. This is drawn on indepth interviews with a sample of head women coaches within the UK. The findings demonstrate that personal lives, relationships, social and family commitments were sidelined by many of the participants in order to meet the expectations of being a (woman) coach. We locate these experiences in the organisational practices of high performance sport which hinder women coaches from having meaningful control over their lives. The complexities of identity are also revealed through the interplay of gender with (dis)ability, age and whiteness as evidence of hegemonic femininity within the coaching profession. Consequently, for many women, coaching is experienced as a ‘developmental dead-end’

Scholarship on Gender and Sport in Sex Roles and Beyond

In this paper we critically review how research on girls or women and sport has developed over the last 35 years. We use a post-positivist lens to explore the content of the papers published in Sex Roles in the area of women, gender and sport and examine the shifts in how gender and sport have been conceptualized in these accounts. In order to initiate a broader dialogue about the scholarly analysis of gender and sport, we subsequently explore ideas inspired by feminist theorizing that have dominated/guided related research in other outlets over this time period but have received relatively little attention in papers published in Sex Roles. We conclude by briefly making suggestions for further research in this area

Gender Bias in the Perception of Women as Collegiate men\u27s Basketball Coaches

This study investigates the potential impact of gender-role attitudes and gender-role congruity on the gaps in research regarding the perceived ability of women to coach men. An online instrument was sent via email to 236 students recruited from an introductory to sport management course at a large public institution in the Southeast. Based on previous studies, this study sought to test whether gender alone would influence the hiring recommendation, perceptions of job-fit, and the perceived capability of female applicants for coaching positions in men\u27s college basketball. In examining the role of gender as a predictor on job applicants\u27 capability, job-fit, and hiring recommendation for a men\u27s basketball coaching position, findings revealed significant differences only on hiring recommendation. The primary findings revealed that despite perceptions of more than capable abilities and job-fit, women would still be offered a men\u27s college basketball coaching job less often than men

Replacing Athleticism with Sexuality: Athlete Models in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues

This study was intended to provide analysis of print-media portrayals of athletes in Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues from 1997 through 2009. Drawing on the theoretical framework from Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity (2005), the authors performed a content analysis of photographic images (N = 141) and associated captions in athlete-related content in Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. Two major issues emerged from the content analysis: gender differences and sexualized images in athlete content. Findings of this study indicated that Sports Illustrated alternates athleticism with sexuality by continuously placing athlete models in positions that are unrelated to sport. In addition, the female athletes were extremely sexualized. These findings support the concept of hegemonic masculinity at work in Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues