Attitude and Satisfaction Levels of Females Toward Physical Education

Background/Purpose:   Research indicates a significant lack of physical participation and involvement among adolescent girls in physical education classes.  Some girls exhibit avoidance and resistance behaviors (skipping class, going to the nurse’s office, not bringing appropriate clothing, etc.) so that they do not have to participate.  Current research explains this behavior by suggesting that physical education and physical education teachers may inadvertently foster a gender dichotomy by deploying learned ideologies of femininity in the physical education curriculum that are produced and reproduced in the physical education classroom.  This happens when activities such as dance are associated with feminine characteristics (grace or daintiness, for example.), and activities such as football are associated with masculine characteristics (aggression and force, for example).  The message to live up to society’s definitions of femininity and masculinity is so strong that many young women and men will do whatever it takes to avoid behavior contrary to these gendered definitions.  According to research, young women are more explicitly affected by the gender dichotomy in the physical education classroom, and young women are at a greater risk of opting out of exercise.  In fact, it may be easier and more desirable for many girls to resist and avoid the physical activities in the physical education classroom than to risk the social consequences of participation.   

Method:   This mixed method study sought a dynamic answer to the question of women's avoidance and apparent dissatisfaction with physical education.  It accordingly explored the attitude and satisfaction levels of first-year female college students toward their high school physical education classes. Questionnaires were used to examine the attitude and satisfaction levels that first-year female college students (N=54) exhibited towards their high school physical education experiences and to gauge their perception of the presence of a gender dichotomy in the physical education classroom. The quantitative data criteria narrowed the potential interview participants to nine girls.  

Analysis/Results: Grounded theory with a feminist perspective guided the analysis of the interview data.  Major findings that help explain the young women's dislike of physical education included:  gender related issues and the presence of a gender dichotomy, ability levels, curriculum, and teachers and pedagogy.

Conclusions: The results of this study offer further and more complete evidence to explain young women's lack of involvement in physical education classes.  It also offers curricular and pedagogical suggestions for achieving a more inclusive physical education environment