Gender stereotypes: The impact upon perceived roles and practice of in-service teachers in physical education
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This study aimed to explore gender stereotypes and their impact upon perceived roles and practice of in-service physical education teachers. Twenty-one qualified PE teachers completed an online story completion method and results were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Comparisons were generated between the two-story stems: between male and female participants and between the hypothetical stories and direct question answers. Results showed that teachers’ perceptions largely conformed to typical gender stereotypes, including stereotypical views on gender roles, gendered sports and story character assumptions. Participants did not attribute stereotype reproduction to themselves as teachers and negative external pressures arose as a common reasoning for stereotypical practice. However, only female participants highlighted parents and peers as significant contributors, whereas both genders highlighted governmental pressures such as curriculum design. This study displayed that gender segregation, masculine and feminine discourses and gendered habitus are still prominent within PE.
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Sorted by citations
Pautu, A., Petracovschi, S., & Domokos, M. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1575686 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Furthermore, gender-sensitive pedagogical approaches are necessary to counteract these biases, especially through teacher training programs that incorporate critical feminist perspectives (Preece and Bullingham, 2020).”
A literature review on gender stereotypes in physical education
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- Authors
- Preece, S., & Bullingham, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Worcester (GB)
- University of Gloucestershire (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Bullingham, Rachael
- Venue
- Sport, Education and Society
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-11-20
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 259-271
- ISSN
- 1357-3322 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-1243
- OpenAlex
- W3109466507
- Cited by
- 100
- References
- 73
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 7
- FWCI
- 21.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orcid.org
- Locations
- Sport Education and Society (publishedVersion)
- Research Repository (University of Gloucestershire) (acceptedVersion)
- Research Repository (University of Gloucestershire) (submittedVersion)
- Worcester Research and Publications (University of Worcester) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Physical Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sports, Gender, and Society
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Sexuality, and Education
- Keywords
- gender stereotypes, physical education teachers, in-service teachers, gender roles, gendered sports, gender segregation, gendered habitus, teacher perceptions, external pressure
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