Research continues to highlight how gender is reproduced through pedagogical practice in Physical Education (PE), but there has been much less focus on how it might be challenged. This paper reports on an intervention that used cooperative learning and critical reflection to challenge gender relations in PE, using football, in a school in Valencia, Spain. The intervention was specifically constructed as a form of critical pedagogy to create an inclusive learning environment, a safe space talk about sexism, and help students question and move beyond traditional notions of gendered embodiment. The paper responds to the call for research on the use of models based pedagogy for challenging sexism in PE. Through a critical ethnography, research findings showed how the explicit inclusion of critical pretexts engaging students in reflecting on gender was important to the success of the intervention, particularly the provision of a space for girls to reflect on their experiences of football and sexism in PE, and for boys to listen and hear this. The change to cooperative learning led to a shift in the class climate between students, with most of the girls reporting feeling more valued and included. The improved class climate resulted in better engagement in the classes from students. While some of the boys exhibited more positive attitudes towards girls and their football abilities, some of the more able boys were critical of the approach for its relative lack of engagement with the development of football, beyond skills and techniques. These findings point to both the possibilities and ongoing work necessary to challenge gender relations through a critical pedagogy in PE.

This paper draws on research that aimed to explore the construction of gender relations in sport and physical education (PE) through a national study of Spanish university degree curricula. Spain is a useful case study through which to explore gender knowledge within sport and PE degrees, because, unlike many other countries, it has a common, national curriculum framework for its Physical Activity and Sport Science (PASS) degrees. In addition, it has recently passed a new law concerning the introduction of gender knowledge in higher education (HE). Drawing on Bernstein’s (1990) framework of the pedagogic device, this paper examines how this HE gender policy becomes recontextualised as universities and lecturers interpret and translate this into the pedagogical texts that make up the PASS curricula. Purposive sampling was used to select 16 of the 37 universities offering PASS degrees in 2012/2013. The research analysed 16 PASS documents at the degree level and 763 individual subject handbooks. Using discourse analysis, the results showed where and how gender knowledge was incorporated and the extent to which the topic was presented coherently throughout the documents. The analysis revealed five categories of the (in)visibility of gender knowledge within the universities’ instructional discourse. Gender knowledge is largely ignored in PASS curricular documentation, appearing, at best, in highly superficial ways. Despite a national policy requirement on universities to incorporate gender knowledge, this study shows how recontextualisation processes within specific universities’ pedagogic devices operate to marginalise such perspectives within PASS curricula. The research also revealed the significance of individual agents committed to gender equity being situated, and having influence, throughout the pedagogic device. The paper concludes that without a much wider, critical engagement in knowledge about gender equity, PASS degrees will continue to reproduce rather than disrupt the gender relations that have traditionally characterised the field.

La educación física escolar se ha caracterizado por la reproducción de los estereotipos de género y situaciones de desigualdad y discriminación. Así mismo, la formación de su profesorado es históricamente un área muy masculinizada. En este contexto, esta investigación se planteó los siguientes objetivos: analizar las creencias y prácticas pedagógicas sobre la perspectiva de género que emplea el profesorado universitario de Pedagogía en Educación Física e, identificar prácticas pedagógicas con perspectiva de género que podría emplear el profesorado universitario para la formación del profesorado de esta carrera. El estudio fue de tipo cualitativo, empleándose el análisis del contenido del discurso para procesar las informaciones provenientes de seis grupos focales en los que participaron profesoras y profesores de seis universidades públicas y privadas chilenas. La investigación permitió determinar dos líneas discursivas preponderantes en el profesorado, la primera de ellas se caracterizó por tener una mayor sensibilidad, conciencia y apertura a las temáticas de género, tanto a nivel conceptual como en las prácticas pedagógicas, y por el contrario, también se identificaron discursos que manifestaban resistencia y rechazo ante las cuestiones de género, tanto a nivel conceptual como metodológico. Las recomendaciones planteadas por el profesorado para incorporar la perspectiva de género se centraron en el diseño de los planes de estudio y en los contenidos de las asignaturas. Palabras clave: perspectiva de género, pedagogía, Educación Física, profesorado universitario, creencias, estrategias de enseñanza, formación del profesorado Physical Education has been characterized by the reproduction of gender stereotypes and situations of inequality and discrimination. Likewise, teacher training is historically a masculinized area. By considering this context, this research had the following objectives: to analyze the beliefs and pedagogical practices on the gender perspective used by PETE lecturers; and to identify pedagogical practices with a gender perspective that could be used by PETE lecturers for the training of teachers in this career. The study was qualitative, using discourse analysis to process information from six focus groups with the participation of teacher educators from six Chilean public and private universities. The results have shown two predominant discursive positions among the teaching staff, the first of which was characterized by a greater sensitivity, awareness and openness to gender issues, both at the conceptual level and in pedagogical practices, and on the contrary, discourses were also identified that showed resistance and rejection of gender issues, both at the conceptual and methodological levels. The recommendations put forward by the participants to incorporate the gender perspective in this career focused on the design of the lesson plans and the contents of the subjects. Key words: gender perspective, pedagogy, PETE, university lecturers, beliefs, teaching strategies, teacher training

Background: In recent decades, Spain has seen a decline in girls’ interest in pursuing the Physical Activity and Sport Science (PASS) degree. For example, in Catalonia (Spain), the number of women enrolled has decreased from 39.3% in the 2000–2001 academic year to 17.3% in the 2014–2015 academic year (Serra, Soler, Vilanova et al. 2019), which is in line with technological and scientific degrees. This fact is striking because more women than men are enrolling in university studies in Spain overall. Purpose: Drawing on Bourdieu's theoretical tools and the concept of social representation, the purpose of this study is to analyse how young people perceive the PASS degree, in order to understand why fewer women than men choose this degree. Method: A total of 4146 students (50.2% girls; mean age = 16.82 years; SD = 0.837) from 39 school centres were purposefully selected in three regions of Spain. Students were enrolled in the final course of Compulsory Secondary Education (4th ESO, 16 years old) and the first of 2 years of the pre-university course (1st year of Bachillerato, 16–17 years old). An ad hoc instrument was designed to measure the Social Representation (SR) of the degree habitus and students’ interest in studying for the PASS degree. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS Statistics (v.23). Data were tested for normality. The statistical tests used were: Chi-square (X²) and Mann–Whitney U analysis. Findings: The results show that the SR of the degree habitus has a masculine characterization, which favours the number of men who study this degree. This SR could explain why the number of women in this field has been very low (around 18%) in Spain in recent years. Likewise, this SR would be a form of symbolic violence on girls who may wish to pursue these studies, but do not feel entitled to do so because it is considered a masculine field. The students are not able to identify this social construction, which eventually naturalizes the difference and makes the prevalence of men in these studies more socially acceptable. Conclusion: The SR of the degree habitus could be exercising a symbolic violence that would contribute to the discrepancy in the number of men and women who choose a PASS degree. To change the SR of the degree, it is necessary to substantially modify how it is constructed. Some of the options would involve a profound change in curriculum, built around a conception of body culture that is based on feminist political, philosophical, and ontological assumptions. This new construction would invoke a configuration of body culture not centred on the modern sport phenomenon and post-modern physical activity. The information that students receive to construct this masculine and instrumentalized SR of the degree should also be intentionally modified.

Drawing on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), we examined factors affecting interest in pursuing a degree in Physical Activity and Sport Science (PASS) among Spanish teenage students. Although women were awarded 55.1% of all bachelor degrees in Spain in 2017–2018, female enrollment in PASS degrees is decreasing and currently stands below 20% across the country. To better understand the under-representation of women in this field, 4146 students (50.2% girls; mean age = 16.82 years; SD = 0.837) participated in a survey designed to measure a series of SCCT constructs: interest in studying a PASS degree, career outcome expectations, goal representations, and perceived social supports. With these data, we tested a set of path analysis models to explain gender differences in interest in studying a degree in PASS. These models tested the assumption that interest in PASS would mediate the paths from outcome expectations and social supports to goal representations. Model 1 assumed that interest would partially mediate the path from outcome expectations to goal representations, Model 2 assumed complete mediation, and Model 3 assumed absence of mediation. All models were tested separately for boys and girls. Our results provide information on how male and female students set personal goals based on expected career outcomes and show that this process is affected by gender stereotypes. The lack of interest by young women in studying a degree in PASS (only 7.8% of girls expressed this interest compared with 19.0% of boys), together with the gender differences observed in perceived social supports, outcome expectations, and goal representations, have several important theoretical and practical implications. The present research suggests that interventions that foster positive outcome expectations and social support are necessary to increase interest in studying PASS among teenage girls.

The present study focuses on the demographic and labor characteristics of coaches in Spain. Kanter’s theory on occupational sex segregation will be used as a guiding framework. The study was conducted with 1685 coaches (82.3% men and 17.7% women) from different sports and performance domains. The results show that there is an underrepresentation of women as coaches in Spain and data highlight that coaches’ gender is related to three structural factors: opportunity, power, and proportion. The present data reveal that women are younger, less likely to be in a marriage-like relationship, less likely to have children, and more likely to have competed at a high level as an athlete when compared to their male counterparts. However, fewer women than men access and participate in coach education in Catalonia and the working status of women was different to that of men. To expand, women worked less hours, were more likely to be assistant coaches, and had less years of coaching experience. Understanding of how gender influences women’s access, progression, and retention in coaching in Spain illustrates the need for gender sport policies and practices in sport organizations. This approach can benefit not only women, but the diversity and enrichment of the coaching system.