Gender Stereotypes among Teachers and Trainers Working with Adolescents.

Adrián Mateo-Orcajada,Alejandro Leiva-Arcas,Lucía Abenza-Cano,Sonia M Martínez-Castro,Ana María Gallardo-Guerrero,Raquel Vaquero-Cristóbal,Antonio Sánchez-Pato

doi:10.3390/ijerph182412964

Adrián Mateo-Orcajada, Alejandro Leiva-Arcas + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182412964

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Abstract

Previous scientific literature has not determined the influence exerted by trainers and teachers of adolescents on the development of gender stereotypes in sport. For this reason, the aims of the present research were to establish differences in gender stereotypes in sport among teachers and trainers as a function of profession and sex and to analyze the influence of age and years of experience of male and female trainers and teachers on the gender stereotypes in sport. For this purpose, 127 teachers and trainers completed the questionnaire “gender beliefs and stereotypes towards physical activity and sport”. The results showed a significantly higher score of the teachers in “beliefs about physical activity and gender” (p = 0.048) and of the trainers in “physical education classes and gender” (p = 0.006). Concerning sex, women showed higher scores in “sport and gender” (p = 0.005), and men in “beliefs about physical activity and gender” (p = 0.045). Regarding covariates, age showed significant differences in “sport and gender” (p = 0.029), with female teachers showing higher values with respect to female trainers and male teachers, while years of experience showed differences in “beliefs about sport and gender” (p = 0.044), with male teachers showing higher values than male trainers and female teachers.

Highlights

The differences were significant in the dimension “beliefs about physical activity and gender” (p = 0.048), with teachers having the highest values, and in the dimension “physical education classes and gender” (p = 0.006), in which trainers reported the highest scores, with a moderate effect size in both cases (Table 1)
Regarding the analysis of variance (ANOVA) results, the differences between male teachers, female teachers, male trainers, and female trainers were significant in the dimensions “sport and gender” (p = 0.023), “beliefs about physical activity and gender” (p = 0.015), and “physical education classes and gender” (p = 0.039), with a moderate effect size in all three dimensions
It is essential that teachers and trainers analyze the values, beliefs, and behaviors they transmit to young people attending schools and sports teams, becoming aware of the role they play in the transmission of gender stereotypes, since if the aim is to eradicate them completely from the sports environment, changes must begin to be made in these aspects of the hidden curriculum of professionals working with adolescents

Summary

Introduction

The practice of sport has been characterized by the presence of gender stereotypes that have led to consider sport as a purely masculine field in which women were unimportant [1]. The role of men and women in sport has changed, so that they occupy similar positions in sports organizations, gender differences are still present [5,6], and their participation rates in certain sports have increased [7,8]. A large part of sports activities are still marked by gender, which leads men and women to adjust their participation in the most stereotyped sports, even unconsciously [9]

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