Attitudes on gender equality in soccer among primary and secondary students in Santiago de Chile

Abstract

The popularity of women's football has grown in recent years, despite the lack of resources and prestige that women footballers receive in comparison to men. The objectives of this research were to determine the psychometric properties of the Attitudes towards gender equality in football in the school context scale in a sample of students in Chile and to determine differences according to gender and primary/secondary education. The tool was applied to 749 students, with a mean age of 15.0±1.8 years, 57.9% of whom were female. The results show that the instrument is valid and reliable to be applied to students in the sample. When comparing by sex, females have higher scores in aspects related to equality in football practice, while males have higher scores in aspects that denote male superiority in football. The same situation occurred when comparing primary and secondary school students, with a more egalitarian attitude towards the practice of football among secondary school students. It can be pointed out that the objectives of the study were achieved and the scale presents adequate validity and reliability indexes to be used in the sample, so its use is recommended. It should be noted that sport itself is a means of working on different skills, not only linked to performance or physical qualities, but also others such as teamwork, empathy, perseverance, etc. As a projection of the research, carry it out longitudinally, to see how these attitudes evolve over time and relate it to other sociodemographic variables, to determine what characteristics could be influencing these attitudes in the sample.