Tag: women in athletics

How Sports Impacts The Lives Of Girls And Women Long After Their Playing Days Are Done

Becky Riddle

download (1)

“The old adage that sports builds character, mental toughness, teamwork and other intangibles that will last a lifetime appears to be especially true for girls and women.

Team sports offer lessons to girls that they often don’t get elsewhere, experts say. And research shows experience in sports is a common trait among top female business leaders.

“Sports, and particularly team sports, tend to give women and girls things that they otherwise have a hard time getting, like resilience, grit, knowledge of teamwork, knowledge of leadership. All of these things are crucial and they all are learned probably better on a sports team than anywhere else,” said Debora Spar, a professor at Harvard Business School, who moderated a panel about women in sports, leadership and empowerment the school hosted on campus earlier this year.”

See more at WBGH.

Women in Sports are Underrepresented in Science

Becky Riddle

052416_bo_-fitness_free

“Despite the gap, Costello’s study did show that women are represented in exercise science studies in general. But I wondered if the trend was improving — and if the type of study mattered. Are scientists studying women in, say, studies of metabolism, but neglecting them in studies of injury?  I looked at published studies in two top exercise physiology journals and found that women remain under-studied, especially when it comes to studies of performance.”

See more at Science News

Sport England: Encouraging Women in Sports

Becky Riddle

Screen Shot 2017-10-19 at 9.06.44 AM.png

“‘Go Where Women Are’ is about engaging women in sport and exercise on their terms and in their space whether physically or emotionally. This review explores our current understanding of women, their relevant motivations, barriers and triggers to getting more active, and what this means for sports and exercise activities and initiatives.”

See more at Sport England

WHY IS THERE A DISPARITY BETWEEN RESEARCH OF MALE AND FEMALE CONCUSSIONS?

Becky Riddle

r226107_1296x729_16-9.jpg

“Female athletes with brain trauma tend to suffer different symptoms, take longer to recover and hold back information about their injuries for different reasons than males. Anyone involved in sports should have a grasp of these key facts. Yet the leading national and international guidelines for understanding sports concussions and returning injured athletes to play ignore key differences in how women and men experience brain injuries.”

Read more at ESPN

Sports Coaching Is Still a Male-Dominated Field

Becky Riddle

Atlantic article lead photo

“Of course, for girls, the absence of women coaches means a dearth of female role models in powerful leadership positions. And same-sex role models matter, particularly for women. The University of Toronto social psychologist Penelope Lockwood, who has studied the impact of race and gender in role modeling, found that girls benefit from same-gender role models more acutely than boys. Female role models act as “inspirational examples of success” and “guides to the potential accomplishments for which other women can strive,” Lockwood concluded. …Naturally, the lack of female coaches also signals to girls that coaching is not a career option that’s open to them. If the overwhelming majority of coaches they encounter are men, young women would logically conclude that sports and coaching are better left to the males.”

Read the full article at The Atlantic.