Inclusion of the Marginalized: The Case of Sport Participation: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Sport plays an important role in society and is seen as a tool to promote social inclusion. However, sport involvement is socially stratified and people who are in marginalized populations (such as people with a disability, refugees, ethnic minorities) often do not participate and thus cannot experience the benefits of sport. This scoping review aims to add to the scientific understanding of why marginalized populations do or do not participate in sport by scoping, structuring, and synthesizing the research landscape on determinants influencing sport participation. A search was conducted in the interdisciplinary databases Science Direct and Web of Science. The initial search identified 829 potentially relevant studies, of which 38 studies were included in the analysis. This paper identifies research gaps and opportunities and employs a socioecological framework to present comprehensive overview of determinants of sport participation for people who are in marginalized populations to inform future research and interventions.