Athletics is still a male-dominated sport: the underrepresentation of women as athletes, coaches, and referees in Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v58.106067

Keywords:

Gender; social justice; sport psychology; sport management; leadership

Abstract

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

Author Biographies

Isabela Silva Assis , Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil

Graduate in Sports Science from the State University of Campinas, Brazil

Evandro Cassiano Lázari , Faculty of Physical Education, State University of Campinas, Brazil

Professor at the Faculty of Physical Education at the State University of Campinas, coach of the Brazilian Athletics Team at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, master's and doctor degree in Physical Education from the State University of Campinas, Brazil.

Júlia Barreira , Faculty of Physical Education, State University of Campina, Brazil

Professor at the Faculty of Physical Education at the State University of Campinas, graduate, master's and doctorate degree in Physical Education from the State University of Campinas - Brazil.

Bartira Pereira Palma , Faculty of Physical Education, State University of Campinas, Brazil

Graduate in Physical Education, master's degree in Physical Education from the University of São Paulo - Brazil, doctoral candidate in Physical Education at the State University of Campinas - Brazil.

Larissa Rafaela Galatti , Faculty of Applied Sciences and Faculty of Physical Education, State University of Campinas, Brazil

Professor at the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the State University of Campinas, professor at the Postgraduate Program in Physical Education at the State University of Campinas, master's and doctorate degree in Physical Education from the State University of Campinas, Brazil

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Published

2024-09-01

How to Cite

Silva Assis, I., Cassiano Lázari, E., Barreira, J., Pereira Palma, B., & Rafaela Galatti, L. (2024). Athletics is still a male-dominated sport: the underrepresentation of women as athletes, coaches, and referees in Brazil. Retos, 58, 872–879. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v58.106067

Issue

Vol. 58 (2024)

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Original Research Article

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