The role of gender and coaching styles in adolescent student-athletes’ motivational orientations in sport and school

Abstract

Research indicates that the dominant discourses of gender are ingrained in dual career (DC) practices critically influencing athletes’ motivation to construct a DC pathway. While it is important to ensure that all athletes have an equal access to construct a DC pathway despite their gender, there is a gap in the literature examining the role that coaches play in gendering of athletes’ DC pathways. The present study longitudinally examined the gender differences in student-athletes’ motivational orientations in sport and academics throughout high school and the role of coaching style in these orientations. The gender differences in coaching styles in terms of student-athletes’ gender, coaches’ gender, and their interaction were also investigated. The sample consisted of 248 student-athletes from six upper secondary sport schools across Finland. The participants filled in questionnaires at the beginning of the first year and at the end of the third year of upper secondary sport school. The results showed that female student-athletes demonstrated higher levels of mastery orientation than males in both sport and school domains. Affective coaching style predicted male student-athletes’ mastery orientation in sport and both male and female student-athletes’ mastery orientation in school. Finally, female coaches were reported using more of an affective coaching style than male coaches. The results suggest that athletes benefit differently from an affective coaching style based on their gender and that it is beneficial to educate coaches how to use an affective coaching style with their DC athletes.