Challenges experienced by women high performance coaches and its association with sustainability in the profession

KENTTA, Goran, BENTZEN, Marte, DIEFFENBACH, Kristen and OLUSOGA, Peter (2020). Challenges experienced by women high performance coaches and its association with sustainability in the profession. International Sport Coaching Journal / ISCJ.

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Abstract

High performance (HP) coaching is a demanding profession (Didymus, 2017). The proportion of woman HP coaches is reported to be in the range of 8.4% - 20% (Bentzen, Lemyre, & Kenttä, 2016a; Kidd, 2013). Mental health concerns in elite sports have recently gained attention, but mainly focusing on athletes (Henriksen et al., 2019). Beyond coach burnout, limited attention has been given to coaches’ mental health. A recent coach burnout review (Olusoga, Bentzen, & Kenttä, 2019) included only one paper that focused exclusively on women. It has been argued that women HP coaches face greater challenges in a male-dominated coaching culture. The purpose of this study was to explore challenges experienced by women HP coaches and their perceived associations with sustainability and mental health. Thirty-seven female HP coaches participated by answering a semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire. All responses were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, which resulted in two general dimensions: Challenges of Working as a WHPC and Sustainability and Well-being as a WHPC. Overall, results indicate that challenges reported might be common for all HP coaches, but also highlight gender specific elements. Consequently, coach retention and sustainability would benefit from more attention on well-being and mental health among HP coaches.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences; 1303 Specialist Studies in Education; 1701 Psychology
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2019-0029
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Elements
Depositing User:	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited:	25 Mar 2020 17:13
Last Modified:	18 Mar 2021 01:52
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26048

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