Gender Differences and Inequality? A 20-Year Retrospective Analysis Based on 39,980 Students’ Perceptions of Physical Education in Sweden

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to critically examine previous studies’ claims about the magnitude of gender differences and gender inequality in physical education (PE) in Sweden. Method: The data were based on students’ (N = 39,980) perceptions of PE and were gathered from four large research projects in Sweden. Three effect size measures (Cramer’s V, r squared, and Cohen’s d) were calculated for gender differences. Results: In general, there are small gender differences; and after controlling for students’ grade, “sports capital,” and parents’ “educational capital,” the differences are practically irrelevant. Conclusion: This study provides compelling evidence that there are small, or even irrelevant, gender differences in students’ perceptions of PE in Sweden. Moreover, given that previous research asserts that large gender differences can be used as an indicator of inequality, this study suggests that gender inequality issues related to students’ perceptions of PE are relatively small.