Factors That Influence

Girls' Choices to
Participate in Sports
Representation of
Women in the Media
Or should we say the lack of it.
According to an article focused on
gendered media, in children's shows
males outnumber females two to
one and there are ten times more
stories on men in the media than
women. It's easy to see that women
are underrepresented in the media a
lot of times they are portrayed in
stereotypical ways that reflect
socially endorsed views of gender.
Young girls usually see this as Opportunities and
belittling and find no importance in
participating in programs that don't
Access
see their contributions as sufficient. In minority communities especially,
(1) girls lack access to adequate
playing facilities near their homes
which makes it more difficult for
them to engage in sports. It is often
seen that girls' teams only have
access to second-rate facilities,
such as shared community fields,
while boys’ teams have lengthy
leases on premier fields. It's hard to
want to participate in sports when
you can see that you are given less
opportunities than your male
counterparts.
(2, 3)
Societal Mindsets and
Stigmas
Psychologists are noticing that not
only are young girls absorbing some
of society's stereotyped notions of
ability, but they are also choosing
activities based on these
stereotypes. Many girls choose not
to participate in physical activities
because some societal stereotypes
teach them that their place is not a
field but in the home and the
classroom. Stigmas like these Having Role Models
suppress girls’ sign-ups
and interest in community sports. Having positive role models can often
(4) lead girls to be interested in
participating in sports, but sometimes
they are hard to come by. Today’s girls
are bombarded with images of
external beauty, not those of confident,
strong female athletic role models. To
some girls, fitting within the mold that
they are constantly told to stay in is
more important than standing out.
Peer pressure can be hard for girls at
any age; when that pressure isn’t
offset with strong encouragement to
participate in sports and healthy
physical activity, the results may lead
girls to not be interested in
participating.
(2)
INFORMATION SOURCES
1. "GENDERED MEDIA: THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA ON VIEWS OF GENDER." NYU, 1994.
2. “DO YOU KNOW THE FACTORS INFLUENCING GIRLS' PARTICIPATION IN SPORTS?” WOMEN'S SPORTS FOUNDATION, 2019.
3. “MAKING COMMUNITY YOUTH SPORTS FAIR AND ACCESSIBLE FOR GIRLS, ONCE AND FOR ALL.” PARKS & RECREATION, 2021.
4. “BY AGE 6, GENDER STEREOTYPES CAN AFFECT GIRLS' CHOICES.” NSF, 2017.
5. "MINORITY YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN AN ORGANIZED SPORT PROGRAM". NATIONAL RECREATION AND PARK ASSOCIATION, 2014.
6. "GIRLS IN UTAH LAG IN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS PARTICIPATION COMPARED TO BOYS." FOX 13 NEWS, 2019.
 What we see with girls
sports participation in
Utah
According to Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, "Girls
are the minority when it comes to high
school athletic participation in every state
in the country, but most states are more
equal than Utah." This is not just because
the number of voluntary sign ups is lower,
but because of the factors mentioned
above. "In Utah, female athletes are just 42
percent of the total, with 33 states having
higher participation from girls as a
percentage." These influencing factoring
play a big part in explaining why this is the
case.
(6)

What Can We Do?

Did You Know? There are three keys for
ensuring gender equality is
youth sports that can lead to
more participation for girls.
Some of the benefits of youth
involvement in sports is that it can Access the amenities of girls'
instill confidence, promote positive teams, leagues and player
experiences and make
values, and improve academic,
adjustments to fix any
social, and physical skills. For inequalities.
minority youth, after-school Recruit and elevate female
sports programs have been found coaches and administrator
to decrease delinquency and serve role models. These female
as a buffer from negative "influencers" help girls "see it,
effects of low socioeconomic to be it".
Feature girls and more in
status, discrimination, and
advertising sports and in the
neighborhood crime. media. Representation may
(5) be the key to participation.
(3)

INFORMATION SOURCES
1. "GENDERED MEDIA: THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA ON VIEWS OF GENDER." NYU, 1994.
2. “DO YOU KNOW THE FACTORS INFLUENCING GIRLS' PARTICIPATION IN SPORTS?” WOMEN'S SPORTS FOUNDATION, 2019.
3. “MAKING COMMUNITY YOUTH SPORTS FAIR AND ACCESSIBLE FOR GIRLS, ONCE AND FOR ALL.” PARKS & RECREATION, 2021.
4. “BY AGE 6, GENDER STEREOTYPES CAN AFFECT GIRLS' CHOICES.” NSF, 2017.
5. "MINORITY YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN AN ORGANIZED SPORT PROGRAM". NATIONAL RECREATION AND PARK ASSOCIATION, 2014.
6. "GIRLS IN UTAH LAG IN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS PARTICIPATION COMPARED TO BOYS." FOX 13 NEWS, 2019.