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Managing Sport and Leisure
ISSN: 2375-0472 (Print) 2375-0480 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmle21
A conceptual framework of sport participation and
women’s empowerment
So Youn Lim & Marlene A. Dixon
To cite this article: So Youn Lim & Marlene A. Dixon (2018): A conceptual framework
of sport participation and women’s empowerment, Managing Sport and Leisure, DOI:
10.1080/23750472.2018.1499437
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2018.1499437
Published online: 19 Jul 2018.
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A conceptual framework of sport participation and women’s
empowerment
So Youn Lim
a
and Marlene A. Dixon
b
a
Department of Kinesiology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA;
b
Department of Kinesiology, Texas A&M
University, College Station, TX, USA
ABSTRACT
Sport has the capacity to generate personal change for girls or women. It could
be a place where women become empowered and overcome many of the areas
of inequitable perceptions or treatment that impact women across the globe.
However, sport is not always empowering, safe, or confidence-building. The
inconsistent effects of experiences in sport participation are not ubiquitous,
nor do they inherently result in positive outcomes [Chalip (2006). Toward a
distinctive sport management discipline. Journal of Sport Management,20,1–
21; Green (2008). Sport as an agent for social and personal change. In
V. Girginov (Ed.), Management of sports development (pp. 129–145). Oxford:
Elsevier]. However, we know little about how and why some sport
experiences are empowering and others are not and what contextual
elements of sport and of women’s lives affect the empowerment experience
through sport. Toward that end, this conceptual study presents a three-tiered
framework that integrates psychological empowerment theory into existing
literature on sport structure and culture to present new avenues of
exploration and analysis regarding the design and implementation of sport
programs for girls and women.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 16 June 2018
Accepted 9 July 2018
KEYWORDS
Gender; sport development;
equity; personal
development
In spite of many advances, women across the
globe are often subject to inequitable percep-
tions and treatment compared to men. For
example, in a number of countries women are
prohibited in certain public spaces including
sport fields (Brady, 2005; Cesari, 2012). Around
the world, women lag behind men in access
to affordable and quality health care (Women
and Gender Equity Knowledge Network, 2007).
While women continue to increase access
toward equal opportunities and access in
many western countries, the ways they are dis-
advantaged in social practices has become
more subtle and hidden (Ely & Meyerson,
2000; Kaufman & Wolff,2010; Kay, 2009; Shaw
& Frisby, 2006). The gendered social practices
are sustained because many social structures
are built by men and for men. While changing
the gendered culture of social structures is
necessary (Ely & Meyerson, 2000), it is also
important for women to gain control over
their lives in order to make a change in gen-
dered social practices and to keep from being
disadvantaged (Hancock, Lyras, & Ha, 2013;
Kaufman & Wolff,2010). Then they can take
action, not only of their personal choices but
also over the politics and structure of the
society in which they live. Sport could be a
powerful means of gaining such control
(Blinde, Taub, & Han, 2001; Brady, 2005;
Kaufman & Wolff,2010; Kay, 2009; Schulenkorf,
2017).
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
CONTACT Marlene A. Dixon madixon@tamu.edu
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE
https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2018.1499437
Several studies have demonstrated that
sport has the capacity to be a tool to generate
personal change for girls or women.Studies
on women’s sport participation have suggested
that females who actively participate in sport
have gained a sense of competence, confi-
dence, independence, and control over their
bodies and lives. Evidence supports that partici-
pation in sport can empower women across a
variety of settings and demographic categories
(e.g. college athletes, amateur athletes, women
and girls in developing countries) in both main-
stream and sport for development programs
(e.g. Blinde et al., 2001; Brady, 2005; Kaufman
&Wolff,2010; Schulenkorf, 2017; Schulenkorf,
Sherry, & Rowe, 2016; Theberge, 1987; Velija,
Mierzwinski, & Fortune, 2013; Wheaton & Tom-
linson, 1998). The women’s sport experiences,
whether in Western countries or developing
countries, provided them a safe place to be
themselves (Brady, 2005; Green, 2001; Hancock
et al., 2013; Reid, Frisby, & Ponic, 2002),
especially if their activity is contrary to existing
gender norms and expectations. Conversely,
sport is not always empowering, safe, or confi-
dence-building. Sport experiences can reinforce
the traditional gender roles and expectations
and make women feel powerless. In some con-
texts, especially those without any intentionality
toward empowerment, female participants who
became aware of gender roles and expectations
conformed to the social expectations by either
quitting the sport (Brace-Govan, 2004), or fem-
inizing themselves (Sisjord & Kristiansen, 2009;
Wheaton & Tomlinson, 1998), instead of resist-
ing, attempting to change other people’s per-
ception, or persuading them not to stereotype
all women.
The inconsistent effects of women’s sport
experience highlight that sport experiences
are not all same, nor do they “naturally”result
in positive outcomes (Chalip, 2006; Green,
2008; Schulenkorf et al., 2016). A growing
stream of empirical studies have examined
empowerment in women’s sport and how
sport experiences are empowering or disem-
powering (e.g. Kaufman & Wolff,2010;Kay,
2009; Röger, Rütten, Frahsa, Abu-Omar, &
Morgan, 2011; Samie, Johnson, Huffman, &
Hillyer, 2015; Velija et al., 2013). While this
builds a beginning point for exploration, most
of these studies are based on a single
program or single sport case, but lack a compre-
hensive framework for explaining both process
and outcome of the experiences. There is
much to learn about how the empowerment
is processed during sport experiences, what
contextual elements of the sport and the
women’s lives affect the empowerment, and
how sport can be such a catalyst for change.
Therefore, in order further develop theory in
this area, this paper presents a framework that
integrates psychological empowerment theory
into the design and implementation of sport
programs for girls and women (see Figure 1).
This framework will bring provide a basis for
further empirical study in that will support,
refute, provide boundary conditions, and even-
tually provide guidance for both policy makers
and programmers in women’s sport (Whetten,
1989).
Theories of empowerment
The empowerment construct is used pervasively
in various fields, including community psychol-
ogy, public health, and management. Among
the various manifestations, two that have been
predominantly utilized are Rappaport’sconcept
of empowerment (1987)andZimmerman’s
framework (1995). Rappaport (1987)defined
empowerment as the process by which people,
organizations, and communities gain control
over issues that they are concerned with.
Zimmerman and his colleagues investigated
the construct further, and developed a frame-
work (e.g. Perkins & Zimmerman, 1995; ; Zim-
merman, 1995,2000; Zimmerman, Israel,
Schulz, & Checkoway, 1992). According to
these scholars, empowerment is a construct
2S. Y. LIM AND M. A. DIXON
consisting of three levels –individual, organiz-
ational, and community. All the levels are inter-
related, but individual level empowerment can
be fundamental to achieving organizational or
community empowerment (in a bottom-up
process).
Psychological empowerment framework
According to Zimmerman (1990), empower-
ment at the individual level of analysis is
referred to as psychological empowerment. He
argued that empowerment at the individual
level calls for an individual to have a critical
understanding of her environment and partici-
patory behaviors in the life or community
beyond the psychological intrapersonal con-
structs (Zimmerman, 1990). His psychological
empowerment framework (1995) provides
useful insights into the processes through
which individuals are empowered, the vari-
ations of experience that empower individuals,
and outcomes of empowering experiences.
Psychological empowerment, empowerment
at the individual level, is defined as a process by
which individuals (1) perceive and gain control
over personal issues, (2) understand their
environment critically, and (3) take actions to
influence the issues in their lives or commu-
nities (Zimmerman, 1990).
Zimmerman’s framework (1995) for individ-
ual level empowerment consists of three com-
ponents (see Figure 1): (1) intrapersonal
(domain-specific perceived control, motivation
to control, and perceived competence), (2)
interactional (a critical awareness of sociopoliti-
cal environment, understanding of causal
agents and options, and developing needed
skills), and (3) behavioral (participatory or
coping behaviors). Based on the three com-
ponents of psychological empowerment, an
empowered person may believe that she has
the capability to influence a given context,
understand how the system works in that
Figure 1. Nomological network for psychological empowerment (Zimmerman, 1995, p. 588).
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 3
context, and engage in behaviors to exert
control in the context (Zimmerman, 1995).
According to studies from various fields (e.g.
Anderson & Funnell, 2010; Hipolito-Delgado &
Lee, 2007; Kar, Pascual, & Chickering, 1999;
Schutt & Rogers, 2009; Zimmerman & Rappa-
port, 1988; Zimmerman, Ramirez-Valles, Rosa,
& Castro, 1997; Zimmerman, Stewart, Morrel-
Samuels, Franzen, & Reischl, 2011), empower-
ment is not gained naturally. An empowering
process can occur when a program provides
participants with a safe space and an experi-
ence that can increase perceived control and
competence, yield knowledge and skills, and
allow one to engage in collective activities (Zim-
merman, 1995). A sport program is empowering
when it nurtures the empowering process and
helps participants gain the cognitive and behav-
ioral skills necessary to critically understand
social environments and become independent
problem solvers and decision makers. To
enhance empowerment, program organizers
need to deliberately implement and provide
the empowering experiences in a program
(Zimmerman, 2000).
An assumption of psychological empower-
ment is that it may vary for different groups of
people, across different life domains (e.g.
family, work, or recreation), and over time. The
importance of each component can also vary.
For women, radical feminists have argued the
process of critical awareness of gendered prac-
tice in society is important (Carr, 2003).
Through consciousness-raising, women can
connect their disadvantaged experiences with
those of other women, and thus see the socio-
political dimensions of their personal problems
(Kaufman & Wolff,2010; Röger et al., 2011;
Stromquist, 2002).
Because psychological empowerment can
vary in different settings, it is necessary to inves-
tigate and add more cases in order to under-
stand the process in-depth and obtain
measurements or evaluation that can be more
generally used (Zimmerman, 2000). Therefore,
we need to examine and identify what are the
psychologically empowering process and out-
comes in the context of sport participation.
Even in the sport participation context, psycho-
logical empowerment can vary in different
sports, settings, or demographics of partici-
pants. Furthermore, because psychological
empowerment is variable across different life
domains (Zimmerman, 1995), the empower-
ment that is gained in a sport setting may not
naturally transit to other domains of partici-
pants’lives. In fact, Zimmerman argued that
the high level of psychological empowerment
could be expected when a person can general-
ize skills across life domains. Therefore, in order
to maximize psychological empowerment, it is
necessary to catalyze the transfer of skills
across life domains. In the following section,
we propose a model for applying the psycho-
logical empowerment framework to sport
participation.
Sport and psychological
empowerment framework
Intrapersonal component
Proposition 1: Sport has the capacity to
promote the intrapersonal component for
active female participants by physical, edu-
cational and socializing experiences and com-
mitment-centered subculture.
Sport, by developing skills and attitudes
women need in their lives, has helped some
women gain personal empowerment. Research-
ers have argued that sport facilitates the devel-
opment of female athletes’physical and life
skills and led to personal empowerment in
spite of a male-dominated system and environ-
ment (e.g. Blinde et al., 2001; Sisjord & Kristian-
sen, 2009). Blinde and her colleagues found that
participating in certain elite sports could
empower women individually by developing
life skills and qualities that some women have
traditionally lacked: bodily competence, compe-
tence of self, and a proactive approach to life
(2001). Other studies on women’s sport
4S. Y. LIM AND M. A. DIXON
participation (Brace-Govan, 2004; Sisjord & Kris-
tiansen, 2009; Theberge, 1987; Wheaton & Tom-
linson, 1998) supported the notion that females
who actively participated in sport were able to
gain a sense of competence, confidence, inde-
pendence, and control over their bodies and
lives. These positive psychological outcomes
were found in the studies of elite-level or
serious leisure female athletes.
The empowering experiences that made
female athletes feel more confident or indepen-
dent were shown mainly to be the physicality
and bodily competence, and goal-achieving
and committing aspects of sport. Studies
(Blinde et al., 2001; Brace-Govan, 2004; Sisjord
& Kristiansen, 2009; Theberge, 1987,2000;
Velija et al., 2013) have argued that female ath-
letes gained positive self-perceptions and
control over their bodies and lives by using
their bodies consistently and gaining physical
strength through sport. For example, martial
arts participants in Velija and her colleagues’
study (2013) reported that they felt physically
and mentally stronger and empowered by
developing physical strength and exercising
force, which enabled those women to reject
physical and mental weakness. Besides the phy-
sicality of sport, the hard-working and goal-
achieving aspects of sport also have enabled
active female participants to gain a sense of
confidence, independence, and control (Blinde
et al., 2001; Wheaton & Tomlinson, 1998). Com-
mitment-centered subcultures have also facili-
tated committed women to feel more
independent and empowered as they were
treated based on proficiency and commitment
in the sport, not based on gender (Wheaton &
Tomlinson, 1998).
Thus, while we have some knowledge of
what sport components are needed to affect
empowerment; we need to explore the
specific components of a sport sub-culture
and how they impact women’s empowerment
within sport. We also need to explore how
these various components may impact women
differently based on their needs, goals, and life
stage (Schulenkorf et al., 2016). It is possible
that empowerment manifests differently
among different groups of women and possibly
among various sport contexts (e.g. elite,
amateur, mainstream, sport for development)
and therefore impacts the optimal design and
implementation of sport programs.
Interactional component
Proposition 2: Sport can provide a space to
become aware of gendered culture of sport
and society by experiencing conflict of gender
expectations between being women and
being athletes particularly when they partici-
pate in traditionally masculine sport.
For the empowerment of women, certain
feminist scholars (e.g. radical feminists, physical
feminists) argued that the process of critical
awareness is considered to play an important
part (Carr, 2003; Velija et al., 2013). They have
claimed that becoming critically conscious of
one’s reality and power inequalities is a key to
empowering women (Stromquist, 2002). They
suggested through consciousness-raising,
women would be able to connect their disad-
vantaged experiences with those of other
women, and thus see the sociopolitical dimen-
sions of their personal problems (Carr, 2003).
On the contrary, liberal feminists emphasize
personal empowerment, arguing that women
can achieve individual empowerment by phys-
ical and mental empowerment (e.g. feeling
strong, confident, and independent) without
questioning and challenging gendered embodi-
ment and other social practices.
Sport can also provide a space to promote a
person’s awareness and interpretation of the
sociopolitical environment surrounding partici-
pants. Indeed, sport fields can reflect other
aspects of culture and society (Coakley, 2001).
Particularly, sport can be a space for participants
to become aware of the gendered culture in
sport fields and broader societies (Kaufman &
Wolff,2010). Many organized sports considered
traditional sports (e.g. football, baseball, and
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 5
hockey) have been dominated by males and
emphasized masculinity (Messner, 2007).
Women who venture into these sports can
have their eyes opened, through their inter-
actions, to the gendered culture of sport and
also of society.
This kind of women’s experience can occur in
a wide range of sports, particularly often in those
perceived as traditionally masculine (e.g. weigh-
tlifting, martial arts). For example, women weigh-
tlifters had “epiphanic moments”(Brace-Govan,
2004, p. 506) in that they recognized the
conflict of gender expectations of women and
the sport (i.e. weightlifting). What was revealed
to them was the fact that strong and powerful
physicality was expected to be male and was
associated with domination over others (Brace-
Govan, 2004). These illuminative moments,
brought on by the effect of reactions from their
friends and families, raised their awareness that
strength and muscularity was not suitable for
women. Moreover, by experiencing interactions
with other men and women at the gyms, they
recognized that certain gyms were male spaces
and they needed to pretend to be masculine to
fitinthere.
In a martial arts setting, scholars found that
women were aware of the public view of
women as weak and victimized (Velija et al.,
2013). The women rejected the notion of gen-
dered embodiment by gaining physical
strength and accepting the violent aspects of
the sport. However, although these women
were aware and avoided the gendered embodi-
ment in martial arts, they were often not critical
about it nor problematized the construction of
the gendered embodiment that positions
women as less physical or less serious than
male peers.
Based on these examples of weight training
and martial arts, we find that the process of
gaining critical awareness of gendered practice
in sport and society is complex and varies by
experience. Therefore, we need further investi-
gation of the specific process experiences in
different cases, sports, and groups of women.
We need a better understanding of how these
sport experiences impact women’s empower-
ment in various subgroups and how nuances
in the sport design, implementation, and demo-
graphic make-up of the participation experi-
ence can alter how empowerment is
perceived and manifest in women’s lives.
Proposition 3: Experience of conflict and its
awareness may occur not only in traditionally
masculine sport but also non-competitive,
gender-neutral sport or other settings.
Alternative sports, such as windsurfing, are
considered postmodern and have a differen-
tiated culture from traditionally masculine
sports, emphasizing values such as individuality,
freedom, or hedonism instead of masculine
values such as aggression or toughness. There-
fore, it is assumed that the gender relations
and structure will be different here (Wheaton
& Tomlinson, 1998). Nonetheless, even in
these sports, female participants sensed gen-
dered expectation and treatment from other
female and male members (Wheaton & Tomlin-
son, 1998). They were expected to be feminine
in appearance and inferior in performance.
There is very little exploration in this area
regarding how women gain empowerment in
these alternative settings and if the mechanisms
are similar/different to participation in tradition-
ally masculine sports. Do these sports open new
avenues for empowerment that could inform
the design of sport for women? These factors
need to be uncovered and mapped in order
to further inform the psychological empower-
ment model.
According to a study of physical activity pro-
motion project for women with low SES in
Germany (Röger et al., 2011), raising critical
awareness can be achieved while participating
in the planning and implementing process of
the activity programs. While women who par-
ticipated merely in exercise and swimming
classes did not show the evidence of critical
awareness, those who participated both in plan-
ning and implementing the activities achieved
the outcome. The planning participants were
6S. Y. LIM AND M. A. DIXON
able to become critically aware of what the
target population wanted and needed, and
learned the potentiality of their influence on
the target group issues by involvement in
sport program organization. This organizational
participation experiences enabled the women
with low-SES to gain what would be considered
the interactional component of psychological
empowerment. Whether this kind of experience
produces same outcomes to other groups of
women, and what are other attributes that facili-
tate this interactional component for other
women should be investigated further.
Proposition 4: While women’s sport partici-
pation may promote awareness and challenge
the traditional notion of women’s capabilities,
it may not encourage critical consciousness of
women’s and gendered issues.
Depending on their involvement or experi-
ence in a sport, women may vary in how they
react to the gendered expectation and treat-
ment. For example, they might exhibit resist-
ance or perhaps reaffirmation (Brace-Govan,
2004; Sisjord & Kristiansen, 2009; Wheaton &
Tomlinson, 1998). The women in Velija and col-
leagues’study (2013) confirmed that they
gained physical empowerment from participat-
ing in martial arts; however, they did not proble-
matize or challenge a normative view of
gendered embodiment. Female participants
who become aware of gender roles and expec-
tations of women may conform to those expec-
tations, for example quitting the sport, or
feminizing themselves, instead of resisting,
attempting to change other people’s percep-
tions, or persuading the naysayers to refrain
from stereotyping women. Studies also found
that while some women’s lack of involvement
and passivity conformed to traditional gender
roles and expectations, actively participating
women were more conscious of the gendered
circumstances and resisted the social expec-
tations. Even athletes who were critically
conscious about gendered expectations and
social practices showed conformity, revealing
different ways the athletes were “doing”
femininity (Sisjord & Kristiansen, 2009; Velija
et al., 2013).
As we design sport programs, particularly
those that challenge traditional gendered
assumptions, we need to understand the
specific elements of the sport experience that
tend to trigger each response. How do we
design sport that will enable more conscious-
ness? How do we keep women involved when
they encounter resistance to gendered expec-
tations? We may be able to find a possibility in
the general empowerment literature. Hipolito-
Delgado and Lee (2007) argued that “oppressed
people who have not developed critical con-
sciousness have limited perception, enough to
survive in an oppressive system, but insufficient
to realize the systemic barriers that entrap
them”(p. 329). They proposed several strategies
for educational counselors on how to facilitate
critical consciousness: developing standards
for curricula that embrace social inequity
issues, creating consciousness-raising groups
to engage in dialogue surrounding issues of
oppression, developing positive identity, and
encouraging social actions. Sport programs,
particularly for marginalized population, may
be able to utilize these strategies to foster criti-
cal consciousness of their surroundings.
Proposition 5: Sport-based programs can be
effective for developing life skills that are essen-
tial in empowerment such as decision-making
and leadership, which can be transferred to
other life domains such as school, work and
home.
Sport has been used to develop a myriad of
pro-social behaviors and life skills (Eley & Kirk,
2002; Petitpas, Van Raalte, Cornelius, & Presbrey,
2003; Schulenkorf, 2017; Schulenkorf et al.,
2016; Weiss, 2008; Wright & Côté, 2003). In
research in developmental psychology, for
example, participating in a sport program that
was intentionally designed to enhance certain
life skills achieved the intended positive out-
comes (e.g. engagement in school and commu-
nity activities, improvement of academic
performance and graduation rate) (Petitpas
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 7
et al., 2003). Sport, in another intentionally orga-
nized program, was shown to facilitate the
development of emotional regulation, per-
sonal/social responsibility, and self-efficacy for
risk resistance (Weiss, 2008). Studies also have
suggested that sport participation experience
can foster leadership skills through gaining citi-
zenship and positive peer relationships (Eley &
Kirk, 2002; Wright & Côté, 2003). Moreover, par-
ticipating in sport has been shown to develop
social skills such as cooperation, assertion,
responsibility, competence, and self-control
(Blinde et al., 2001; Cote, 2002).
However, in neither mainstream nor sport for
development contexts, sport participation does
not seem to generate pro-social behaviors auto-
matically (Brady, 2005; Huggins & Randell, 2007;
Schulenkorf, 2017). For example, student ath-
letes who participated in any Division I collegi-
ate sport do not necessarily perform as well as
other students in academic classes (Maloney &
McCormick, 1993). Furthermore, even though
studies have demonstrated participating in
any school sport improves academic perform-
ance, the improvement is often trivial or tem-
porary (Taras, 2005; Trudeau & Shephard,
2008). Some researchers have also suggested
that good academic performance of student
athletes might not be the result of sport partici-
pation (Rees, Howell, & Miracle, 1990). Rather,
high academic achievers could be more likely
to be involved in sport. Therefore, it is not
certain that sport participation necessarily
leads to high academic performance.
Furthermore, certain female participants,
specifically those with low economic or social
status, can feel empowered simply by gaining
access to sport. Opportunities for accessible
leisure sport programs have enabled low-
income women to gain a sense of inclusion
and involvement in their community (Reid
et al., 2002; Röger et al., 2011). For girls in
some developing countries (e.g. Egypt, Kenya),
having access to sport programs may be per-
ceived as gaining more mobility and access to
public spaces, otherwise they were not socially
allowed in public spaces (Brady, 2005; Huggins
& Randell, 2007). Participating in sport programs
can provide females in these contexts opportu-
nities to gain more accessibility and exposure
to public spaces, which further contribute to
changing perceptions of boys, their family
members, and of females’general mobility
and capability.
This is an area that clearly needs further
theoretical and empirical development. We
need more investigation to disentangle the con-
textual contingencies surrounding the various
pathways toward empowerment. When is
simply gaining access deemed as empowering,
and what does that empowerment look like vs.
when does a program need specific social and
life connections to make it empowering?
These factors will help understanding of the
mechanisms between sport and broader life
empowerment.
Behavioral component
Proposition 6: Although sport has a capacity to
facilitate behavioral component of psychologi-
cal empowerment, individuals’actual behaviors
can vary: conforming to social expectation,
resisting against the expectation or coping
between two behaviors.
Through participating in sport, women have
resisted male-dominant aspect of sport and
society (Henderson & Hickerson, 2007; Kane,
1995; Shaw, 2001). Resistance is often con-
sidered an act of a minority group to challenge
the power relations of social stratifications such
as gender. The resistance of women is also
deemed “to occur when women adopt beha-
viors or express themselves through activities
which provide personal empowerment and
which, at the same time, reflect a challenge to
dominant, restrictive or constraining views of
femininity, sexuality, or motherhood”(Shaw,
2001, p. 191).
Women in sport may, by participating, resist
the male dominance of the sport itself. Female
participants have not been welcomed in
8S. Y. LIM AND M. A. DIXON
masculine sports because the expectation of
them (i.e. femininity) is contradictory to the
culture of the sport (i.e. masculinity). However,
women in some studies (Green, 2001; Noad &
James, 2003; Sisjord & Kristiansen, 2009; The-
berge, 2000; Velija et al. 2013) have challenged
such constraints and pursued what they
desired. Female participants in male-dominated
sports have had to struggle for their equal
opportunity, access, and systematic or social
support to play. They challenged the notion
that the sports were for men and that women
were unwelcome.
The studies on women’s sport such as Green
(2001), Theberge (2000), and Velija et al. (2013)
did not specify the women’s participation in tra-
ditionally masculine sport as resistance. Their
results, however, imply that female participants
challenged society’s perceptions of women in
masculine sports. Not identified as resisting,
these women challenged society’s notion by
continuing their participation and developing
their own identity as female football, ice
hockey players, or martial artists.
In addition to persisting in a masculine sport,
women may resist by transforming its culture
(Kane, 1995). Women in some studies rejected
the emphasis on masculine values (e.g. compe-
tition, winning) and integrated feminine values
(e.g. process-oriented, collective, inclusive, sup-
portive). A female group also constructed their
own group culture to continue the participation
because the masculine culture of the sport was
one of the constraints to their participation
(Wood & Danylchuk, 2012).
Women’s resistance against a male-domi-
nated attitude and culture in sport can also be
extended beyond sport fields. One woman’s
resistance influences other women’s resisting
behaviors or inspires other women to challenge
traditional assumptions regarding femininity
and masculinity in daily life (Shaw, 2001). For
example, the resistance can be extended to
challenging gendered behaviors, gendered
treatments, appearance expectations, and
gendered inequality in the provision of
opportunities and activities. Women’s resistance
through sport and leisure activities may result in
personal empowerment and psychological and
developmental benefits–enhanced sense of
self, development of new self-affirming identi-
ties, and increased feelings of self-worth
(Shaw, 2001).
Understanding under which conditions
women tend to respond one way or another is
critical to our modeling of the relationship
between sport and empowerment. Factors
that affect the reaction or behaviors could
include participants’level of involvement in
sport or social support from others. These
factors would need to be part of any study
designed to explore this relationship.
Proposition 7: Even though sport has a
capacity to promote participants to involve
themselves in active citizenship, female partici-
pants may not be encouraged to initiate or
involve in activism on women’s issues as a
group.
Feminists often emphasize its significance,
but social change or empowerment of women
generated through sport has received scant
attention. This might be because it is difficult
to document social change and to observe
over time the actual change of people’s beha-
viors (Blinde, Taub, & Han, 1994; Shaw, 2001).
Moreover, many sport programs for develop-
ment have focused on personal change and
social integration, not social change or revolu-
tion (Röger et al., 2011; Theberge, 2000).
Women’s participation in sport is believed to
help enhance society’s perception of women’s
capability and physical skills. Female athletes
do seem aware of the unfairness of women’s
sport within their particular context, yet such
awareness seems to stop short of recognizing
the differential treatment of women in
broader social contexts (Blinde et al., 1994;
Velija et al., 2013). Even women who play tra-
ditionally masculine sports, such as ice hockey,
football, or martial arts (Green, 2001; Theberge,
2000; Velija et al., 2013), and are aware they are
not following the expected gender norms did
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 9
not seem to try to convert or transform the
gender norms to broader society. “They are
about playing hockey not ‘social transform-
ation’” (Theberge, 2000, p. 91). The sport pro-
grams were not intended to bring about social
change.
Many feminist researchers argue that social
resistance or collective actions are more
salient and effective at delivering social
change to gender differentiations and
women’s disadvantages. However, gaining per-
sonal empowerment and awareness are also
essential to contributing to a positive change
in individuals. People who become aware of
gender inequality may try to make a subtle
change in their daily lives, which may
contribute to altering gender distortion in
society (Ely & Meyerson, 2000). Furthermore,
social resistance and radical social actions to
change the current gender norms and expected
roles can cause a backlash for the men and
women who want to keep and conform them
in society. Making a personal change can be
an effective small step to achieving social
change. However, leaving empowerment only
to personal choice and personal action can
also be problematic (Caudwell, 2011; Velija
et al., 2013). Over-emphasizing individual
aspects of empowerment may cost broader
changes such as deconstructing gendered
embodiment and experiences, and reinforcing
biological views on gendered bodies (Messner,
2011).
Examination of the factors that lead toward
the spectrum of reactions needs to be exam-
ined. These include both sport design factors
and personal/demographic factors of the par-
ticipants, as well as the interplay between.
Although many suggest that social action is
required to truly demonstrate empowerment,
it may be that there are inhibitors or problems
associated with that level of empowerment
and that other levels/manifestations may be
desirable as well. Investigations of the behav-
ioral outcomes of psychological empowerment
must include both aspects.
Discussion and contribution
This model presents a useful conceptual
framework for examining women’s personal
empowerment through sport. A research
agenda based on this framework could be uti-
lized to design, implement, and evaluate sport
programs for women with regard to their
capacity for creating, building, or maintaining
personal empowerment. It is also necessary for
future research to investigate how the empow-
ering components and variables can be differ-
entiated among women by social status, age,
race, or culture. This research can contribute
to sport academia by providing a framework
from a holistic approach of the sport experience
that can be tested in various populations under-
served in sport. By focusing on women, the
research can inform how to organize sport to
help women gain control over their bodies
and lives and ultimately liberate them from
damaging gender norms and expectations.
Liberating women may have different mean-
ings and emphasize different components of
psychological empowerment. Neoliberal femin-
ists emphasize individual choices and actions,
respecting individual differences (Samie et al.,
2015). Radical feminists and physical feminists
emphasize taking social actions such as
making policies to alleviate damaging gender
norms and expectations (Carr, 2003; Velija
et al., 2013). They have claimed that becoming
critically conscious of one’s reality and power
inequalities is a key to empowering women
(Stromquist, 2002). They suggested through
consciousness-raising, women would be able
to connect their disadvantaged experiences
with those of other women, and thus see the
sociopolitical dimensions of their personal pro-
blems (Carr, 2003). Focusing on individual
aspects can be dangerous without questioning
and challenging socialization, shifting socio-
political issues to individual ones. Oppressed
people who have not developed critical con-
sciousness have limited perception to realize the
systemic barriers (Hipolito-Delgado & Lee, 2007).
10 S. Y. LIM AND M. A. DIXON
These tensions between various literature bases
demonstrate the need for a comprehensive
theoretical framework that will address various
pathways and outcomes of empowerment. It
may be that these perspectives need not
compete with each other, but compliment
each other toward a more comprehensive
understanding of women’s empowerment in
sport.
While it is difficult to predict specific out-
comes and program design elements without
empirical investigation, we can theorize some
initial uses of the framework for practitioners,
enabling them to acknowledge and implement
elements that lead positive change and benefits
for participants. The concept of empowerment
can often be vague and broad, which may
have various meanings to different people.
Therefore, when program organizers attempt
to implement empowering programs, the
broadness of the concept can make it difficult
to discern what kinds of experience they need
to provide to “empower”participants. By speci-
fying components and elements of empower-
ment, this framework will allow the organizers
to identify and create specific experiences tar-
geting to provide each component and
element. For example, to facilitate psychological
empowerment, the strategies for educational
counselors (Hipolito-Delgado & Lee, 2007)
might be effective particularly for marginalized
populations: developing standards for curricula
that embrace social inequity issues, creating
consciousness-raising groups to engage in dia-
logue surrounding issues of oppression, devel-
oping positive identity, and encouraging social
actions. Policy makers may need to consider
how to apply these strategies to encourage criti-
cal consciousness and challenge gendered
social practices.
Sport can be tailored toward specific out-
comes, to reduce barriers to access, and/or to
create more inclusive cultures (Schulenkorf,
2017; Schulenkorf et al., 2016). To provide a
program suitable to specific group of partici-
pants, practitioners first need to understand
what kinds of empowerment the participants
want by asking questions or providing a
simple survey when they show interest in a
program. Then, using the components of the
empowerment framework, sport can be tailored
to that group. (Again, we use caution in
suggesting implications without empirical
support, but provide some basic examples of
how the framework could be used in a practical
way). For example, if sport managers notice
their participants consider the masculine
culture of the sport (e.g. golf) as one of the con-
straints to participation, they can provide
coping strategies, for example, by helping
them develop their own subculture, which is
more acceptable and enjoyable to female
participants.
Further, if managers or participants seek a
particular outcome, they can use the empower-
ment framework to guide program designs
toward that end. For example, as a part of
empowerment, organizers may focus on Intra-
personal components and provide activities
that can boost the feeling of control and inde-
pendence. Emphasizing physical, hard-
working, and goal achieving aspect of sports
allows participants to gain those components.
Similarly, if sport managers want to target the
Interactional component of empowerment,
they can add more activities that can develop
life skills, such as leadership or communication
skills, both within sport and in ways that can
be transferred to other life domains. More
specifically, instructors can provide team-
setting sport activities to promote communi-
cation skills, which is useful in other life
domains, such as at work.
Identifying empowering components in
sport may provide enhancements to other inter-
vention or prevention programs (e.g. leadership
programs, intervention programs for victims of
domestic violence) that give organizers an
opportunity to consider utilizing sport to
enhance other empowering services in the pro-
grams. Sport activities in those programs that
are intentionally implemented to achieve
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 11
certain types of empowerment will add value to
the intervention programs.
Thus, the empowerment framework for
women in sport contributes strongly to both
theory and practice, illuminating and explaining
ways that sport can be empowering for women
in ways that are meaningful to them. Future
empirical and field-based studies grounded in
this framework can serve to increase the positive
impacts of women’s sport participation, uncover
how empowerment develops during sport, what
contextual and individual correlates affect
empowerment processes and outcomes, and
how sport can be a catalyst for positive change.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
authors.
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