Understanding underrepresentation of female high-performance coaches in Swedish Sport

Abstract: Historically, women like other marginalized and discriminated groups, have been compared to the manly model of sport as ‘others’ and often it is their feminine characteristics that are focused upon. In the coaching profession, women have yet to break through and be seen as equals to their male counterparts. Even as the number of women taking part in sports is increasing and equity between men’s and women’s sports is growing, there still remains areas within sport where women continue to struggle to gain more influence and power. High-performance coaching is an area where growth has been slow for women to gain a more equitable foothold. Men continue to dominate the role as the coach and continue to dominate even more so at the high-performance level of coaching. The aim of this qualitative study is to examine and explore the experiences of high-performance coaches in three Swedish sporting organizations and contribute to an understanding to what factors surround the underrepresentation of high-performance female coaches in sports organizations that are relatively gender equal in participants and leaders. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 5 individual high-performance coaches (3 female; 2 male) across swimming, skiing and triathlon. The results show a continuation of a flexible masculine hegemony in the role of a coach, but also changing attitudes and norms towards women as high-performance coaches. It also questions the organization and structure of the coaching role taking into consideration recommendations for changes in the work of a coach to make the profession more sustainable for both men and women.