[LUM#20] “There are still very few girls who play rugby”
According to INSEE, 87% of boys aged 13 and 14 participate in sports, compared with 78% of girls. Among girls, one-third compete in sports, compared with half of boys. Julie Boiché, a researcher in social psychology at Euromov DHM1, explains how the persistence of gender stereotypes in sports creates and perpetuates this difference.
How would you define a gender stereotype?
Julie Boiché: In social psychology, a stereotype refers to the characteristics—whether physical, psychological, or behavioral—that are socially attributed to the female and male genders.
You’ve taken an interest in gender stereotypes in sports—why?
J.B.: Together with Melissa Plaza, who wrote her thesis under my supervision, we started from the observation that girls and women engage in physical activity less often than boys and men. While discourse and social norms may convey fewer stereotypes today, in reality they still exist.
You followed several cohorts of students from 6th grade through 12th grade as part of a study. What kinds of questions did you ask them?
J.B.: For example, we might ask them: “How important do you think sports are for girls?” or “How good are they at sports?” Then we ask the exact same questions to the boys, and we see if there is a difference in perception between girls and boys.
So what?
J.B.: We see that by sixth grade, boys have, on average, already internalized a stereotype that works in their favor—namely, that they are better than girls and that playing sports is more important to them. Girls generally give fairly neutral responses at the start of middle school, but during their middle school years, we observe a shift: they tend to internalize the idea that they are less athletic than boys and that it is less important for them to participate in sports.
You’ve explored gender perceptions of different sports. What did you find?
J.B.: Many sports are still perceived as masculine: combat sports, motorsports, and contact team sports like rugby. Some activities are considered more gender-neutral, such as racquet sports or track and field, whereas dance, yoga, gymnastics, and horseback riding are still predominantly associated with women today.
And is this reflected in the participation rates for male and female athletes?
J.B.: We cross-referenced these responses with data provided by the federations, and yes, there is a very strong correlation between gendered perceptions of sports and actual participation. To put it simply, there are still very few girls who play rugby, and few boys who dance; and so the situation tends to repeat itself because it’s not easy to be “the only girl” among boys or vice versa.
You also had elementary school children draw pictures…
J.B.: Yes, together with Claire Bréchet from the Epsylon Lab, we asked them to draw a child playing sports. The boys all spontaneously drew a boy, whereas only two-thirds of the girls drew a girl. Among the sports depicted, we see the dominant ones like soccer, among both boys and girls. We also noticed that girls were depicted participating in so-called “masculine,” “neutral,” or “feminine” sports, whereas boys were essentially confined to “masculine” sports. It is clear that they, too, are excluded from certain activities and that this issue remains unresolved; there may still be difficulties in accessing certain activities, and the social circle of young people plays a significant role.
You surveyed parents—is there a family-based transmission of these stereotypes?
J.B.: Among adults, 85% of the responses were neutral, which is a sign that an anti-sexist norm has taken hold—that’s good news. However, when we present them with tasks less explicit than a questionnaire, links between parents’ stereotypes and those of their children emerge, which we can interpret as a form of transmission.
You show that these stereotypes contribute to a higher dropout rate in sports among girls than among boys. When does this dropout occur?
J.B.: From the very beginning, the vast majority of children who do not participate in sports at all (outside of physical education classes) are girls. We then observe more dropouts among them during adolescence, and the presence of gender stereotypes is one of the hypotheses put forward to explain this. Either because they have internalized these beliefs that are detrimental to them, or because they are less socially encouraged to continue.
With lifelong consequences?
J.B.: Yes, the less we exercise at that age, the less likely we are to exercise as adults—given all the issues surrounding sedentary lifestyles and the importance of getting enough physical activity for good health.
Are public policies addressing this issue?
J.B.: Yes, but even proactive policies sometimes run up against stereotypes; for example, in some cities where sports facilities have been installed in public spaces to make sports accessible to everyone, they are quickly “taken over” by boys. Instead of combating the stereotype, this reinforces it, since boys are claiming a new sporting territory, which reinforces the idea among girls that it’s not for them.
So gender stereotypes are still going strong?
J.B.: We think we live in a more open era, and that’s true to a certain extent, but there are still many shocking things. There’s the whole issue of media coverage and the promotion of women’s sports. Some women’s sports teams have rebelled against the inappropriate uniforms that their federations impose on them… We still have a long way to go!
UM podcasts are now available on your favorite platform (Spotify, Deezer, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, etc.).
- Euromov (UM, IMT Mines Ales)
↩︎