Harriet Morgan
24503711
Sport Development and Management
SPT2726 Doing Real World Sports Research.
Assessment Title: Research Proposal
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Title:
Investigation into the extent to which gender ideologies continue to influence the
participation rates of females in sport and physical activity.
Identification and development of a research topic:
The proposed research operates within the area of the development of female
participation in sport and physical activity. It aims to discover the relationship
between social exclusion and football and how they co-exist with each other in
modern day society.
Studies conducted within this area of research are increasingly concerned with the
barriers to participation in sport and physical activity which females may face and if
solutions can be found to counteract the barriers and provide significantly more
opportunities for sport participation for females in sport.
Globally, sport is the most popular leisure activity participated in, largely due to its
ease and adaptability to be able to reach out to a myriad of races, ethnicities,
religions and genders to unite communities around a common interest. In the United
Kingdom, approximately 40.7% of men and 31.7% of women are recorded to take
part in some form of sport or physical activity. Despite this, girls have 1.3 million
fewer chances to participate in high school athletics than boys. Due to a lack of
focused physical education provision in primary schools and restricted opportunities
to play sports in high school and college, females are forced to seek for sports
participation elsewhere. Finding sports provisions away from the school environment
may be scarce in number for females and may also be highly expensive which may
mean that they are unable to access the sports they want be involved in. This
illustrates the responsibility which the education system has to give girls every
chance to immerse themselves into sport and physical activity whilst it should be
provided for them at no cost, meaning equal opportunities for all. It is imperative that
the influence on which the education system has over the legacy of female
participation in sport is explored and strategic plans are designed for the immediate
future in order to ensure that sport provision is equal for all females in education in
all school environments.
Building upon recent work in this area, the proposed research is required due to the
fact that it would provide the opportunity to facilitate more chances in trying to
increase opportunities for females in sport to prolong their careers in the future. This
would lead to higher levels of social inclusion of females in football as they could
progress from playing football to alternative roles such as punditry or commentary
jobs which would act as role models for young girls to aspire to be like.
The research aims to explain the relationship between football and its ability to
integrate females as a ‘minority’ group in sport in comparison to other sports such as
golf, rugby or snooker. To fulfil such aim, the following research aims, and objectives
must be met:
a) To analyse the perceptions of young females and barriers they may feel they
experience when playing sport.
b) To examine the successfulness which football as the leading sport in the UK
can have on tackling such feelings of marginalisation.
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c) To assess the successfulness of current programmes such as ‘This Girl Can’
campaigns and if they are meeting their objectives to promote sport
participation amongst females.
d) To establish if using football as the spearhead for promoting inclusivity
amongst females in sport is sufficient enough or if other sports should be
integrated as well to widen the appeal to an increasing number of females.
Existing research debates in this area revolve around the extent to which the way
football in the UK has become increasingly controlled and centralised around the
influence of the media. From this monotony, it is pertinent to see the effect which this
has on the segregation and ostracization of minority groups in society such as social
class, race, gender, ethnicity and age.
Recently, football has been increasingly used to tackle issues of social exclusion in
society using education programmes to tackle exclusion issues in society like youth
crime and racism. Football seeks to provide a positive use of leisure time for these
groups, but it must be coupled with equality of access to ensure inclusion for all
minority groups in society including women and girls. The primary reason football is
the chosen sport of focus for this research proposal is due to its high popularity in the
UK meaning it already has sufficient funding to achieve targets outlined concerning
social inclusion.
The research proposal will focus on discussing two main research questions:
1) To what extent does sport exaggerate and reinforce pre-existing gender
ideologies reflective of society’s view in general?
2) How effective are current sports programmes at promoting inclusivity of
gender in sport and what approach could be taken in the future to make sport
less socially exclusive?
Review of Existing Literature:
Literature surrounding the influence of sports on social exclusion in society is diverse
and complex. There are numerous articles and journals in this area of research
including by Trolan (2013); Frey & Eitzen (1991); Washington & Karen (2001); Balish
et al (2016); Roper (2014). Previous research from Trolan (2013) has highlighted
how sport can be an environment where values from society can permeate its
seemingly welcoming façade in terms of how women are often recognised as
females first and athletes second in comparison to their male counterparts who have
no such dilemma. As such, certain sports like football must adopt the spearhead role
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of tackling such prejudiced gender ideologies which remain in society and seek to
promote more sport participation amongst females without the fear of them being
judged for being ‘less feminine’. For example, the ‘Get onside’ campaign by Women
in Football, was devised to improve gender equality in football by helping to improve
the landscape for women and girls to progress in the sport into leadership roles and
responsibilities with the aim of removing barriers to participation for females in
football (WIF, 2021). These barriers often stem from gender ideologies pre existing
within society
Research Design:
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Ethical Issues:
Appendix:
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