Are Gender Stereotypes Still Prevalent in Physical Education? Spanish Teachers’ and Students’ Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Gender Equity

Abstract

Purpose: Grounded in doing gender theory, the purpose is to explore physical education teachers’ and students’ beliefs and attitudes toward gender equity in physical education and sports and to identify possible aspects to be addressed. Method: This is a cross-sectional study in which a random sampling by multistage clusters was followed. Participants included 90 physical education teachers and 644 secondary school students, who completed two different questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t tests, one-factor analysis of variance, and two-way analysis of variance comparisons. Findings: Most students and teachers showed equitable beliefs and attitudes at a sociocultural level. The intersection of teachers’ age and self-identified sex/gender, and the self-identified sex/gender of students, played a significant role in the stereotypes. There was a gap between teachers’ results and students’ perceptions. Conclusion: Findings emphasize the need to implement critical feminist curricular approaches, especially with preservice teachers. Moreover, it is important that these approaches work on masculinities.