Elliot Erlij

Gender Construct in Sports and the According Perceptions of these Roles of Male and Female sports players; A case study on football at a Catholic High School in Madrid

Started Apr. 28, 2023

Abstract or project description

On a global scale, women's sports are disproportionately treated and funded compared to men's sports. In Spain, amid the backdrop of the controversial 2023 Women's World Cup celebration during which the president of the Real Football Soccer Federation kissed a player on the lips without her consent, there has been intensified examination of the gender discrepancies (both in treatment and allocation of financial resources) in football. Based in Madrid, Spain, my research explores whether gender disparities in the professional sports field are mirrored in a high school environment. Using my Catholic high school as a case study, I specifically examined how gender roles are constructed by peer and administration influence and how they manifest in the school’s sports program, focusing on Spanish football (soccer). I used the following question to guide my research: How do high school student players internalize gender  roles?” Through interviews and surveys with both male and female athletes, student observation, a period of literature review, and an analysis of the school’s sports policies,  my research illustrates that masculinity and dominance construct gender roles in football and other sports in three distinct ways, via peer pressure, positions of power, and systematic gender inequality. I found similar patterns between these macro-level discrepancies nationally and the examples I observed during my investigation at the micro level within my local school community. My findings conclude that the presence of gender norms in sports exists at my school, and they are reinforced by the school administration’s (largely male-dominated) lack of interest in and failure to prioritize rectifying these discrepancies, and through the perpetuation of these roles in student peer influence.