How Are University Gyms Used by Staff and Students? A Mixed-Method Study Exploring Gym Use, Motivation, and Communication in Three UK Gyms

Frances Rapport, Hayley Hutchings, Marcus A. Doel, Bridget Wells, Clare Clement, Stephen Mellalieu, Sergei Shubin, David Brown, Rebecca Seah, Sarah Wright and Andrew Sparkes
Additional contact information
Frances Rapport: Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Hayley Hutchings: Institute of Life Sciences, College of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
Marcus A. Doel: Department of Geography, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
Bridget Wells: Institute of Life Sciences, College of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
Clare Clement: Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK
Stephen Mellalieu: Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF5 2YB, UK
Sergei Shubin: Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK
David Brown: Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF5 2YB, UK
Rebecca Seah: Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Sarah Wright: Patient Knows Best, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cambridge CB4 0W, UK
Andrew Sparkes: Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Becket University, Leeds LS1 3HE, UK

Societies, 2018, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: This study examined university gym use by staff and students using mixed methods: participant observation and an e-survey. Research in three UK universities entailed 16 observation sessions and an e-survey that reached 3396 students and staff. The research focused on gym use, the gym environment, the presentation of the self, and social interaction within gym spaces. The gyms were found to have a difficult role to play in providing functionality for some, while helping others to be active and minimize feelings of isolation and lack of control. This led to these gyms developing spaces of exercise rather than therapeutic spaces, and divisions in use of space, with some areas rarely used and often highly gendered, resulting in contested meanings produced within Healthy University discourses and physical activities.

Keywords: gym use; gym culture; university staff; university students; higher education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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