Do Girls Really Gain from a Gender-blind Approach to Sport in Co-Education?
What constitutes co-educational school sport is an emerging question. In this week’s guest blog, Asha Riley suggests that it may be more complex than it appears at first sight
Progressive attitudes towards gender and equality have sparked meaningful discussion about every facet of co-education over recent years. Whilst this has been necessary and long overdue in many respects, actions and propositions that arise from these conversations must still be evaluated rigorously before any large-scale integration and adoption. In many areas of school life, equity has been achieved successfully by creating mixed learning environments where equal opportunities are unequivocally provided for both girls and boys. Sport, so far, appears resistant to transition and has not yet made any notable advances towards developing gender-blind inclusivity. Many sports departments operate girls’ sport and boys’ sport as separate entities with different staff and structures in place to support single-sex programming.
Pressure is now building for Directors of Sport in co-education to follow societal trends and address the gender imbalances in their programming and provisions. Views on how parity can be reached in school sport will always be controversial, since anyone joining the debate will enter with significant personal experience, enduring attitudes and probably some gender bias too. So far, emerging arguments suggest that genuine equality lies in the direction of mixed or gender-blind sporting opportunities, which undoubtedly threatens the future of our well-established single-sex traditions. The notion of any kind of gender exclusivity has clearly become unsavoury in light of political correctness.
However, before deconstructing the traditional single-sex sporting model to reflect the constructs of co-education elsewhere in school, we must consider whether a mixed model is an appropriate shift in the context of sport. Pupil experiences and outcomes must always be at the heart of the debate; we cannot assume that because one approach has worked effectively in some areas, that the same is true for all. In fact, the potential drawbacks of abandoning single-sex school sport for secondary aged girls are substantial, and yet, no one seems to be talking about them.
We must first acknowledge that there are biological differences between girls and boys that would immediately place girls at a disadvantage in a gender-blind sporting environment. The elephant in the room is that, on average, boys are physically superior and are likely to dominate in this domain. As such, there is a real danger that a programme reliant on mixed sport would eliminate opportunities for success for girls. Granted, the very best girls may be able to compete but this is likely to reflect so many sectors of society that still exist, whereby women must be exponentially better, relative to their male counterparts, in order to get a seat at the table.
To make mixed environments more equitable, the answer may be to give an equal number of gendered awards or spots on a team, but would this really provide a better sporting experience than is already being offered? Realistically, allocating a certain number of spots on each team to the girls would likely cause anguish for all involved. Boys will complain that they deserve a place over a girl and girls may well agree but would be left feeling unworthy and awkward. As a result, competitive mixed sport is likely to make the retention of teenage girls even more challenging than it already is. Quite frankly, without adequate offerings of single-sex options, co-educational school sport may be heading towards disaster for girls.
Of course, some girls would relish the opportunity to challenge the boys and fight for their spot and the recognition they deserve. There would undoubtedly be success stories in this regard too. However, these successes are likely to come from only a small proportion of the female community and these will also be the girls that already possess talent, confidence and positive attitudes towards sport. One may argue that seeing the strongest girls jostle for positions amongst the boys will inspire an ‘if she can do it, so can I’ mindset for everyone else, but this does seem a little naive. It is far more likely that weaker girls will lose motivation, since the task ahead appears nigh-on impossible. Furthermore, weaker boys are even more at risk in this gender-blind environment. Even if groups are ability-based, a weaker boy may end up feeling demasculinised and bruised by their experiences, especially if historic stereotyping prevails within the community.
Indeed, there are certain communities within the world of sport and exercise that have successfully integrated cultures of mutual respect and equal competition. CrossFit, for example, has a thriving community that welcomes and provides for both women and men. Workouts are scaled to reflect the max strength discrepancy between genders, which ensures success is always relative to inherent biology and equivalent credit can be awarded for accomplishments. This ‘scaled’ approach is simply not possible in several of the sports that are up for consideration in co-education, especially those that are invasion-based. The nature of these games will always serve the male contingent better than the female and the visual representation of this will be obvious for all to see. Moreover, pretending that this is not the case actually makes these environments hazardous for girls on a practical level.
None of this is to say that girls are less able to achieve in sport. Girls can be equally as ambitious, skilful, athletic, competitive and dedicated, which has been demonstrated through the exponential growth and quality of girls’ games since greater investments have been made. Girls will always rise to the challenge if the barriers to participation and performance are properly addressed. The confines of single-sex sport make this a more manageable task; universal approaches can be deployed to increase engagement, thus allowing more time to be spent capturing minority groups and catering for all abilities. The introduction of mixed sports in co-education makes this a messier process because barriers for participation are not identical for teenage girls and boys. Successful departments, therefore, will acknowledge this and work in harmony to inspire and attract girls and boys in equal measure. The best sports departments will still remain resolute in ensuring parity across all sectors.
Collaboration between existing department members will play a vital role in enabling co-educational school sport to stay relevant in the contemporary landscape. Whilst there is significant advantage to maintaining the strength of single-sex sport at this time, steps must be taken towards a more unified future. Pupils cannot be expected to enter into mixed sport with an attitude of interest and mutual respect for their opposites, if the same is not already well-established and clearly visible from the behaviours and actions of the department at its helm. Directors of Sport must work hard to tackle any existing gender bias and gender discrimination that might undermine the good intentions of a more mixed programme. Leaders should also initiate regular discussion on topics that would serve to enhance the co-educational sporting experience for pupils, which may include: suitability of coaching styles for mixed sport, behaviour management for the mixed environment or motivation strategies for mixed groups, to name a few examples.
Pupils have most to gain from mixed sport when its delivery comes from a place of shared insight and experience. With this in mind, significant work may be needed in educating boys and male staff about the nuances of the menstruation cycle. For obvious reasons, female staff are currently far better equipped to identify hormonal signals amongst girls and are typically more adept in responding to these. In girls’ sport, there is an appreciation that uncharacteristic changes in inclination, mood and effort, could be the influence of menstruation and, as such, girls are able to bounce-back quickly from having an ‘off-day’. If no attempts are made to raise awareness or better understand female biology in mixed sporting environments, it is quite possible that teenage girls will feel misunderstood, judged, ridiculed or even silenced by their experiences.
There is no doubt that a gender-blind future would help breakdown archaic myths and stereotyping surrounding genders and sport. Positive experiences in mixed sport are likely to build stronger relations and develop empathy amongst the pupil body, that may contribute to producing better citizens. A shift towards a mixed model would also go some way towards solving current inclusivity and equality conundrums, on face value at the very least. However, traditionally gendered sports do provide an important opportunity to ‘belong’ for many pupils, which must not be overlooked either. Single-sex sports offer valuable experiences for pupils to explore identity and commonality with peers that share the same biology. By removing the gendered backbone of co-educational sporting programmes there is a possibility that even more pupils will feel lost, which may have further ramifications on the mental health crisis we are seeing.
The Directors of Sport of today must recognise the current trends as a signpost for where co-educational school sport might be heading. However, there must be acknowledgement that meaningful debate should precede any action if this new territory is to be navigated successfully. Hast to introduce mixed sport and failure to address some, if not all, of the issues raised here beforehand, could put a generation of girls (and potentially boys) in danger of becoming collateral damage. Letting the first mixed cohort ‘play out’ so that retrospective tinkering can occur for future betterment seems unfair since equality is at the heart of this shift. Indeed, the landscape is changing but a commitment to deliver positive pupil experiences and outcomes for all in co-educational school sport must always be the goal and guiding principle.
Asha Riley is a PE teacher at Berkhamsted School, where she was formerly Head of Lacrosse. She previously worked at Marlborough College Malaysia, and was an England Lacrosse player