Multilevel factors affecting the social inclusion of women in sports

Subject Areas : Woman and Society

Mahshid Gholi Poor ¹ , Farzad GHAFOURI ² , Javad Shahlaei bagheri ³ , gholamreza shabani bahar ⁴ , Holger Preuss ⁵

1 - 1- Ph.D. Candidate in Sport Management, faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Associate Professor in Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Associate Professor in Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
4 - Professor in Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
5 - Professor in Sport Economics, Sport Sociology and Sport History, Johannes Gutenberg‐University, Mainz, Germany

Received: 2023-08-30

Keywords: Gender stereotype, sexism, social exclusion, social inclusion, sport,

Abstract :

Introduction: The present study was conducted with the aim of identifying multilevel factors affecting the social inclusion of women in sports. Methods: This study was a multimethod qualitative research, and interviews, analysis of secondary documents and observation of participants were used to collecting data. The population included experts and researchers of women's sports, sports sociologists, sports psychologists, coaches with experience in the field of women's sports and all women who participated in sports activities at least one day a week. Twenty-eight people were interviewed using the snowball sampling method. The microscopic examination of data method was used to analyze the research data, and the data were categorized based on Strauss and Corbin (1998) analytical steps. Results: The findings of this research in 17 themes of the first order and in the form of macro levels (including the factors of social activities, community capacity building, efforts to deinstitutionalization and pursue citizenship rights), meso (including the factors of the characteristics of sports coaches, educational activities, environmental conditions, cooperative learning, and management in sports organizations), micro (including factors of personal identity, interpersonal behavior, individual conditions and individual interests) and social development (including the factors of justice, social capital, social security and social welfare) were categorized . Conclusion: These results can help the organizations in charge of sports to properly plan and apply effective methods for the social inclusion of all women in sports, and be an effective step towards increasing social cohesion and realization of social justice in the country.