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New research shows women defer to men when it comes to coaching youth sport and have little confidence in their own ability.
Dr
Sarah Leberman, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management at Massey
University has just returned from four months in the United States on a
Fulbright Scholarship with fresh insights into why so few women,
particularly mothers, become sports coaches. Dr Leberman did
her research at the Tucker Centre for Research on Girls and Women in
Sport at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis-St Paul, the only
research centre of its kind in the world.
She says it has been
established that there are few women coaching at the top and elite
levels. “So we decided to track through from the beginning by going
back to entry-level to look at why women were not taking on coaching
positions in youth sport.”
It is estimated that only 15 per cent
of youth sport coaches in the United States are women. Dr Leberman says
although there is only limited data available in New Zealand, the
percentage is also likely to be low.
Her Fulbright research
focused on soccer, the fastest growing women’s sport in the United
States. “It showed that the main reason women don’t take part is a lack
of confidence in their own abilities, the cost to their children in
terms of perceived favouritism, and the challenge of separating the
mother/coach roles. There is also a perception that sport is
male-dominated and that most coaching clinics are run by men, with
little consideration given to the needs of women.”
Dr Leberman
says the research suggests there is a need to provide women-only
courses, run by women, as well as mentoring and highlighting of the
benefits of mothers being a coach, such as being a role model. She and
a research colleague also explored the idea of transferring mothering
skills to the coaching context. “Many women we interviewed had never
considered that their skills as mothers could be relevant to coaching.”
She
plans to continue her research in New Zealand and says it will be
interesting to compare the results. “The research participants in the
United States were predominantly middle class white women. We now want
to look at the issues in a context that includes Maori and Pacific
Island women.”
Editor's Note:
Original news release can be found here.
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