Ithaca College

Phoebe Constantinou, assistant professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education, along with Mara Manson of Adelphi University and Steve Silverman of Teachers College at Columbia University, recently published an article entitled, "Female Students' Perceptions about Gender-Role Stereotypes and Their Influence on Attitude toward Physical Education," in The Physical Educator (volume 66, number 2, pages 85-96).

This qualitative research study examined female students' perceptions toward gender-role stereotypes in physical education. Twenty 7th- and 8th-grade girls were in-depth interviewed face to face and observed multiple times during their 45-minute physical education class.

Results indicated that girls perceive themselves as athletically equal to their male peers and called themselves "athletic" and "competitive."

The primary factor impacting their participation in and attitude toward physical education and competitive sports was the girls' perceptions of what constitutes a safe environment and what constitutes a safe sport.