The Impact of Media and Cultural Beliefs on Women’s Participation in Sports in Turkey: The Challenges faced by Turkish Women in Professional SportsAbstract: The fight for gender equality in Turkey extends as far as the sports sector of the economy. Although Turkey has recently seen a fast rise in the participation of women in sports, female athletes are still being marginalized for many reasons. The alarming levels of discrimination discourage females from entering into professional sports in Turkey and have inhibited the growth of the female sports sector in Turkey. This research aims to examine the different roles women have to take with emphasis on explaining the relationship between sports and politics in modern Turkey. The present study explores Turkish women's specific constraints and challenges in professional Sports. Qualitative data were generated from semi-structured interviews conducted with 142 female athletes (both amateur and professionals) across different cities in Turkey. The findings of the study indicate that family influence (χ= 4.39 of 5), wage inequality (χ = 4.31 of 5), media misrepresentation (χ = 4.16 of 5), inadequate sports facilities for women (χ = 4.12 of 5) and high levels of sexual harassment (χ = 3.89 of 5) are the constraints that must be addressed to improve the climate for female participation in sports significantly. The study highlights how these physical activities and sports programs play essential roles in increasing awareness of their importance and improving the overall perception of women in sports in Turkey.Classification-JEL: J16, J71, L83

İnce-Yeni̇lmez, Meltem

The Impact of Media and Cultural Beliefs on Women’s Participation in Sports in Turkey: The Challenges faced by Turkish Women in Professional SportsAbstract: The fight for gender equality in Turkey extends as far as the sports sector of the economy. Although Turkey has recently seen a fast rise in the participation of women in sports, female athletes are still being marginalized for many reasons. The alarming levels of discrimination discourage females from entering into professional sports in Turkey and have inhibited the growth of the female sports sector in Turkey. This research aims to examine the different roles women have to take with emphasis on explaining the relationship between sports and politics in modern Turkey. The present study explores Turkish women's specific constraints and challenges in professional Sports. Qualitative data were generated from semi-structured interviews conducted with 142 female athletes (both amateur and professionals) across different cities in Turkey. The findings of the study indicate that family influence (χ= 4.39 of 5), wage inequality (χ = 4.31 of 5), media misrepresentation (χ = 4.16 of 5), inadequate sports facilities for women (χ = 4.12 of 5) and high levels of sexual harassment (χ = 3.89 of 5) are the constraints that must be addressed to improve the climate for female participation in sports significantly. The study highlights how these physical activities and sports programs play essential roles in increasing awareness of their importance and improving the overall perception of women in sports in Turkey.Classification-JEL: J16, J71, L83

Meltem İnce-Yeni̇lmez

Sosyoekonomi Journal, 2021

Keywords: Professional Sports; Female Athletes; Gender Discrimination. Issue: 29(48) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://dergipark.gov.tr/download/article-file/1139523

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sos:sosjrn:210205

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Sosyoekonomi Journal from Sosyoekonomi Society Cihan St. 27/7 06430 Sihhiye Ankara Turkey.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Aysen Sivrikaya ().