Are women equally represented in high-quality physical education research? Evidence from 2000 to 2020

ABSTRACT

Studies on gender gaps in research have reported several differences favoring males over females. Women scholars face many more barriers and biases in their professional career when compared to their men colleagues. This descriptive study aimed to provide, for the first time, a contemporary picture of women’s representativeness in high-quality physical education research (JCR-Q1-Q2 journals) from 2000 to 2020. Based on prevalent metrics, the following specific research questions were used to guide the concern and direction of this gender-gap analysis: (RQ1) What is the women/men first authorship ratio? (RQ2) What is the women/men authors’ ratio in the top 1–2% contribution? (RQ3) What are the women/men citation rates and h-index ratios? (RQ4) What is the women/men ratio in the roles of editor-in-chief or editorial board members? A total of 1,815 published articles from six top peer-reviewed journals (European Physical Education Review, Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Quest, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, and Sport, Education and Society) and their respective editorial board members (n = 258) were examined. A gender-gap analysis was conducted on four elements: first authorships, contributions, citations and h-index, and editorial board membership. The results reported: (1) 41.6% of women first authorship, (2) 27.7% of the top 1–2% of total contributions were women, (3) 29.62% of articles with more than 100 citations were published by women as first authors, (4) no gender differences in h-index of the top 1–2% researchers, (5) no women held the editor-in-chief position, and (6) 46.9% of editorial team members were women. These findings show that women are still underrepresented in high-quality research in physical education, and they represent a critical starting point to trace working paths. Administrations should activate mechanisms to seek gender equality. In particular, gender-equity policies should be promoted in physical education research.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender gap
• gender bias
• research
• women
• physical education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 JCR-Q1-Q2 journals.