Women Working in the Applied Domain: Examining the Gender Bias in Applied Sport Psychology

Abstract

The field of applied sport psychology has witnessed a large increase in the number of sport psychology consultants working with athletes, coaches, and teams (Waite & Pettit, 1993). However, despite this growth, there exists a distinct gender bias within the applied domain. Applied sport psychology consists of primarily white, middle-class males (Gill, 1994; Gould, Tammen, Murphy, & May, 1989; Lee & Rotella, 1991). The current reality is that the most visible, high-level applied sport psychology positions are occupied by men. The purposes of this paper are to examine the gender bias embedded within applied sport psychology, present several explanations for the marginalization of women within the field, critically examine previous suggestions provided, and introduce possible recommendations for increasing gender equity within applied sport psychology.