Where are all the female participants in Sports and Exercise Medicine research?
Abstract
The aim of this study is to estimate the ratio of male and female participants in Sports and Exercise Medicine research. Original research articles published in three major Sports and Exercise Medicine journals (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, British Journal of Sports Medicine and American Journal of Sports Medicine) over a three-year period were examined. Each article was screened to determine the following: total number of participants, the number of female participants and the number of male participants. The percentage of females and males per article in each of the journals was also calculated. Cross tabulations and Chi-square analysis were used to compare the gender representation of participants within each of the journals. Data were extracted from 1382 articles involving a total of 6,076,580 participants. A total of 2,366,968 (39%) participants were female and 3,709,612 (61%) were male. The average percentage of female participants per article across the journals ranged from 35% to 37%. Females were significantly under-represented across all of the journals (χ(2) = 23,566, df = 2, p < 0.00001). In conclusion, Sports and Exercise Medicine practitioners should be cognisant of sexual dimorphism and gender disparity in the current literature.
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In a review of 1382 exercise and sports science articles published from 2011-2013, 39% of study participants identified as female, and only 4-13% of the articles incorporated a female-only design.
“in a review of 1382 exercise and sports science articles published from 2011–2013, 39% of study participants identified as female, and only 4–13% of the articles incorporated a female-only design in their studies [2].”
From Considerations of Low Carbohydrate Availability (LCA) to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) in Female Endurance Athletes: A Narrative Review (2023) · cites this paper as [2]
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“(75) observed that less than 40% of sports and exercise study participants were females, indicating sex bias, our study, on average, shows an even distribution of sex/gender.”
Background
- Authors
- Costello, J. T., Bieuzen, F., & Bleakley, C. M.
- Affiliations
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- Laboratory of Sport, Expertise and Performance Institut National du Sport, de l'Expertise et de la Performance (INSEP) Paris France
- University of Ulster (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Costello, Joseph T.
- Venue
- European Journal of Sport Science
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-04-25
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 847-851
- ISSN
- 1536-7290 (ISSN-L)
- 1746-1391
- OpenAlex
- W2067824905
- Cited by
- 599
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 84 · 2025: 77 · 2024: 74 · 2023: 87 · 2022: 87 · 2021: 68 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 9.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Journal of Sport Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Sex and Gender in Healthcare
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sports, Gender, and Society
- Keywords
- gender representation, female participants, underrepresentation of women, sexual dimorphism, sex differences in research
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Male, Sports Medicine, Research Subjects, Biomedical Research, Sexism
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