Keeping girls in the gym : an examination of the reasons why females choose not to participate in high school physical education

Abstract

With the changes of removal of mandatory participation in physical education (PE) classes and topics taught in these classes, there has been a decline in the participation rate across the board, but most specifically in the female population (Dwyer et al., 2006). With concerns of obesity, inactivity, and mental health issues on the rise, it is necessary to look at why these individuals are not participating. The purpose of this paper is to understand why female high school students do not enroll in senior elective PE classes. An extensive review of current PE literature, combined with a survey/focus group pilot project in Sudbury, Ontario was completed to help determine these reasons. The results of this paper indicate that there are three overarching themes as to why females are not continuing after the mandatory grade 9 class: 1) body image, 2) confidence in athletic abilities, and 3) curriculum and teaching styles. Within these themes, female students feel they should be comfortable and confident with themselves before immersing themselves into PE classes. Additionally, students believe that the content of classes should be adapted to suit current needs of students and promote lifelong health and activity participation. Students are not necessarily finding satisfaction and usefulness in the basketball, soccer and volleyball based gym classes, so it is important that schools consider implementing more individual and everyday activities such as hiking, yoga, swimming, etc. These may be the very activities that allow students to feel successful in the classroom and develop habits for necessary participation as they leave high school and move towards adulthood.