Chapter 1 - Hong Kong Baptist University

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES
OF FEMALE SPORT COACHES
IN HONG KONG
ARE THEY IN A MORE DISADVANTAGE SITUATION?
BY
CHAN KWUN WANG
00004804
AN HONOURS PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF
THE REQUIRMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF ARTS
IN
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND RECREATION MANAGEMENT (HONOURS)
HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
MARCH 2003

HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
17 th MARCH, 2003
We hereby recommend that the Honours Project by Mr. CHAN
KWUN WANG entitled “Positive and Negative Experiences
offemale sport coaches in Hong Kong. Are they in more
disadvantages situation?” be accepted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree
in Physical Education And Recreation Management
_______________________
Dr Tsai Hiu Lun, Eva
Chief Adviser
_______________________
Dr Leung Mee Lee
Second Reader
Process Grade:___________________
Product Grade:___________________
Overall Grade:___________________

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my gratefulness to my chief adviser,
Dr Eva Tsai, for her advice and generous guidance through the
entire preparation of the projects. Special appreciation is
given to Dr Leung Mee Lee as my second reader. I would also
like to thank Ms. Avia Chan, Ms. Ivy Chan and Ms. Annie Wong,
from the Hong Kong Coaching Committee, for their cooperation
throughout the process of this project.
Sincere thanks go to all interviewees who took part in the
interviews.
____________________
Chan Kwun Wang
Department of Physical Education
and Recreation Management
Hong Kong Baptist University
Date: 17 th March 2003

ABSTRACT
During the past years, the number of female coaches has fewer
than that of male coaches. It seems that they are in more
disadvantage situation. The purpose of this study was to
investigate the positive and negative experience of female
sport coaches in Hong Kong. This study, using a qualitative
research method included semi-structured interviews, invited
21 female coaches to participate in a personal interview. They
answered the questions from the investigators and expressed
their own feeling about their own coaching experiences. The
data analysis was done by using the constant comparison
technique (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) and typed in Excel. A
series of initial codes was developed by open coding and axial
coding to represent the participants’ experiences. The result
showed that some of the female coaches are in disadvantages
situation in parts of their coaching job.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
Page
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................1
Statement of the Problem.....................4
Research Questions...........................4
Definition of Terms..........................5
Delimitations................................6
Limitations .................................7
Significance of the Study ...................7
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE............................10
Status of Female Coaches.....................10
Attitudes of administrators and athletes towards
female coaches...............................15
Gender of coaches is not important...........22
Reasons of female coaches for entering and leaving
the profession...............................24

CHAPTER
Page
3. METHOD..........................................34
Collection of Data...........................35
The Sample...................................36
Procedure....................................37
Method of Analysis...........................39
4. ANALYSIS OF DATA ................................41
Results......................................41
Discussions..................................79
5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .........................89
Summary of Results...........................89
Conclusions..................................97
Recommendations for Further Studies...... ...100
REFERENCES......................................... ...104
APPENDIX........................................... ...111
A. List of Questions (English Version)..............111
B. List of Questions (Chinese Version)..............113
C. Consent Form to the Interview....................114

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Coaches have very important roles in sport’s world,
whether they are responsible for little children or top-level
athletes (Fasing and Pfister, 2000). They help their students
develop the potential sport skills. For some coaches, they
are the role models for the students and lead them to develop
their own personalities.
Both genders should have equal rights to coaching
profession. There should not be sexism in doing this
professional. Many people suggest the equality at the gender
in their society that means both genders have equal
opportunities to join coaching. It is inappropriate to
discriminate against one of the genders in this profession.
But, some studies state that there is an unequal trend of gender
in the distribution of the coaching job, including decline
in the number of female coaches (Dennis & Dan, 1990; Frankl
& Babbitt, 1998; LeDrew & Zimmerman, 1994; Lough, 2001;

Pastore, 1991, 1992; Perry, 1986; Shen, 2000; Suggs, 2000;
Weiss & Stevens, 1993) and more male than female coaches in
top-level sport (Fasing & Pfister, 2000).
In Hong Kong, the population of female is continuing to
increase. More than half (51%) of the population is female
in 2002, increase from 50.5% (1998), 50.7% (1999), 51% (2000),
and 51.2% (2001) (Census & Statistics Department, 2002).
Supposedly, more number of people will have higher percentage
to participate in sports. Nevertheless, this is not true. The
percentage of their participation in sport is less than that
of male (HKSDB, 1999b, 2000, 2001 & 2003). In 2001, rate of
males’ participation (53%) was significantly higher than
females (43%). The percentage of male participate in sports
was 57% (1998), 50% (1999) and (2000), whereas the percentage
of female participate in sports was 51% (1998), 41%(1999) and
40% (2000) (HKSDB, 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2003).
In recent years, many female athletes demonstrated the
outstanding achievement of Hon Kong in many large-scale sports

competition, such as, Kim-fei Ho won the gold medal in rowing
during the 1 st
East Asian Games in 1993, Lai-shan Lee won the
first gold medal for Hong Kong in the 1996 Olympic Games. She
and Wing-yin Chiu also won the gold medals in windsurfing and
squash respectively in the last Asian Games, 2002. However,
the improved results of female athletes do not linked with
the equal status of female in sports coaching. According to
Annie Wong of Hong Kong Coaching Committee, HKSDB (personal
communication, February 12, 2003), the ratio of male and
female coaches in Hong Kong is 7:1. And according to a study
conducted by HKSDB (1999a), only fifth of coaches in Hong Kong
were women. This shows that coaching seems to be
male-dominated occupation (Knoppers, 1992).
Although the number of female coaches is fewer than their
male counterparts, it is important to know how they think
themselves in coaching. Do they think they are really in a
more disadvantage situation? Therefore, this study is used
to investigate the experiences of female sport coaches in Hong

Kong sport development.
Statement of the Problem
The purpose of this study was to investigate the positive
and negative experiences of female sport coaches in Hong Kong.
Are they in a more disadvantage situation?
Research Questions
To understand the female coaches’ experiences, the
following research questions were asked:
1. What positive / negative experiences do female coaches
have?
2. Which factors motivate them to be a coach and continue
their profession?
3. What are the constraints they face as a coach in term
of gender?
4. Which factors will make them resign from the profession?
5. Do they satisfy with their current work?
6. Do they have confidence in performing coaching?

Definition of Terms
Female Coach
The word “female coach” in this study referred to the
women who play the coaching role to offer instructions in
sports skills and to manage athletic programs for the members
of sports team at different level of competitions.
Motivation
Motivation refers to “the intensity and direction of
behavior. The intensity of behavior relates to the degree of
effort put forth to accomplish the behavior, and the direction
of behavior indicates whether an individual approaches or
avoids a particular situation” (Silva III & Weinberg, 1984,
p.171).
Intrinsic motivation
Definitions about intrinsic motivation frequently vary.
The most common definition is that “people are so motivated
if they participate in an activity without receiving any
external rewards” (Weinberg, 1984, p.178).

Extrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation refers to “performance or
participation is controlled by external forces” (Weinberg,
1984, p.178), such as, money, trophies and grades.
Constraint
Constraint referred to “any relative and / or relevant
factor that mitigates between a possible activity and one’s
opportunity for involvement in that experience” (Henderson
& Bialeschki, 1993, p.390).
Delimitations
The delimitations of this study were summarized as
follows:
1. As this is a qualitative research on the experiences
of female sport coaches, questionnaires will not be used in
this study.
2. Views of male coaches were not taken although it is
worthwhile to investigate how they think about the female
coaches.

3. Former female coaches will not be invited in this study,
except she is very representative in coaching.
Limitations
The following limitations were recognized in the
following:
1. As this is a qualitative research through interviews,
this cannot be made as generalization.
2. Interpretative research may not be subjective enough
for interpreting of data.
3. Intercoder reliability checks (Neuman, 1997) are done
with two of the researchers’ friends. That is, only three
people code a sample of the data separately and then compared
the codes with each other.
Significance of the Study
In Hong Kong, which in emphasizing the equity among
gender, female is increasing the status in sport development
nowadays. The number of females that take part in sport is
also increasing. To satisfy the needs and enhance the

awareness about women in sport, Women & Sport Commission was
set up under Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong
Kong, China. However, many studies found that the number of
female coaches decrease in the world’s trendy (Dennis & Dan,
1990; Frankl & Babbitt, 1998; LeDrew & Zimmerman, 1994; Lough,
2001; Pastore, 1991, 1992; Perry, 1986; Shen, 2000; Suggs,
2000; Weiss & Stevens, 1993). This is a serious problem for
the females in the sport’s world. This makes the status and
number of coaches be unevenly distributed. Male is viewed that
they are higher status and number in coaching. It will
contribute to a problem, that coaching is seen as a male
dominance job only. It appears the inequity between genders
in coaching.
Therefore, it is important to understand both positive
and negative experiences of female sport coaches in Hong Kong.
Are they in a more disadvantage situation? The findings of
the study can be aware the position of women in coaching. It
also tries to understand what the female coaches have

experienced in this profession.
On the other hand, little research has been conducted
to indicate specifically about the issues, especially in Hong
Kong. It seems that many researchers concern about the premise
of women constraints in sport rather than, in particular,
female coaches’ constraints. Therefore, there is a need to
increase in the understanding of constraints of female coaches
and to investigate the issue of decreasing the number of female
coaches in the future.
Finally, this study can be also awake women and girls
that coaching is one of the job-opportunities for them to
develop their career in Hong Kong.

Chapter 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The review of the literature pertaining to the study of
female coaches’ attitudes towards coaching development in
Hong Kong as been divided into the following sections: (a)
status of female coaches; (b) attitudes of administrators and
athletes towards female coaches; (c) gender of coaches is not
important, and (d) reasons of female coaches for entering and
leaving the profession.
Status of Female Coaches
Sexism still exists in different occupations and
professions. Although women have continued to increase their
education, it seems that the distribution of females and males
in some positions is still unequal. Women were still
underrepresented in various occupations and professions,
particularly those that have traditionally been occupied by
men (Medwechuk & Crossman, 1994). Also, power relations’
issues are embedded in social relations, giving that coaching

environments employ a large numbers of men, to raise the
problem of what it is like for women to be in environments
where disproportionate numbers of men and women exist (Pastore,
Iglis & Danylchuk, 1996).
Traditionally, coaching is an occupation which is viewed
as requiring one to be aggressive, competitive, and firm
rather than soft, feminine, and yielding (Hasbrook, 1988;
Hasbrook, Hart, Mathes & True, 1990; Wrisberg, 1990) and is
a profession often considered inappropriate for women to enter
(Sisley & Capel, 1986; Wrisberg, 1990). This stereotype
probably influences people, especially female, not to
consider coaches as a good job opportunity.
In American culture, the status of males is generally
regarded as being higher than that of females (LeDrew &
Zimmerman, 1994). It also exists in traditional Republic of
China as well (The status of women in China, 1992). Also, it
is well known that the coaching profession is dominated by
men, including the coaching of women’s teams (Shen, 2000).

This point of view affected both number and status of female
in coaching environment. Title IX, which was enacted to
prohibit sex discrimination in education programs that
received federal funds in 1972 in USA, leaded the increasing
in women’s participation in sports, but this did not increase
the number of female coaches (Acosta & Carpenter, n.d.). The
worst of it is that there was a parallel decrease in the number
of women coaching those sports (Stangl & Kane, 1991). Although
males became coaches for women’s teams in enormous numbers
following the passage of Title IX, there was no related entry
of female into the coaching positions of men’s teams (Acosta
& Carpenter, 2000). Women could be “allowed” to coach men’s
teams if the sport was not so closely linked with the need
to make a profit or with hegemonic masculinity, for example,
men’s tennis and swimming (Knoppers, 1992). Some studies have
shown that the distribution and percentage of female coaches
had been in the inequity stage throughout the years (Acosta
& Carpenter, n.d.; Sisley & Capel, 1986; Stevens, 1989, as

cited in Weiss & Stevens, 1993).
In an Oregon high schools study (Sisley & Capel, 1986),
a higher percentage of males were employed as head and
assistant coaches in all sports except girls’ tennis and
volleyball. However, there were only a greater percentage of
female’s assistant coaches for softball, swimming, girls’
soccer and volleyball.
Stevens (1989, as cited in Weiss & Stevens, 1993)
reported that, across three major sports in Montana
(basketball, track, and cross-country), 93% of the boys’ teams
were coached by men, while only 22% of the girls’ teams were
coached by women.
Moreover, the statistics of intercollegiate sports in
USA showed that 44% of the coaches of women’s teams were females
in 2002, down from 45.8% in 2000, 47.4% in 1998, 47.4% in 1996,
49.4% in 1994 and 48.3% in 1992, whereas more than 90% of
women’s team were coached by females twenty-two years ago in
1972 (Acosta & Carpenter, n.d., 2000b; Wong, 2002). In fact,

only about 2% females were employed to be the head coaches
of men’s teams within the NCAA. And almost all of these female
coaches coached the combined teams which both male and female
students were normally practicing together, for example,
swimming, track, tennis, and cross country (Acosta & Carpenter,
n.d.).
These findings show that there is unequal distribution
of gender in coaching positions. Men are still dominated in
both head and assistant coaches. Compare to USA, one fifth
of coaches are women in Hong Kong (HKSDB, 1999a). Therefore,
the attitude of being a female coach may be affected by
themselves and their male counterparts. Therefore, how do the
female coaches think about their status? Are they in a more
disadvantage situation? It is worth for the researchers to
investigate the experiences of female sport coaches in Hong
Kong.

Attitudes of administrators and
athletes towards female coaches
In sports, administrators’ and athletes’ preferences may
affect the allocation and number of female coaches.
Administrators are in charge of the processes of hiring the
coach to fulfill the position, whereas the athlete, especially
female, may consider whether they will become coaches in the
future based on their previous experience with their coaches.
Therefore, it is an important factor about them to affect the
number of female coaches now and future.
Administrators’ attitudes
There is evidence to suggest stereotypical beliefs and
biased beliefs toward athletic coaches do exist. Some studies
indicated that sex biases existed in the hiring of athletic
coaches (Medwechuk & Crossman, 1994). To investigate the
causes of the diminishing role of women in intercollegiate
athletics in USA, Acosta and Carpenter’s (1985) study of 307
athletic administrators found that the female administrators

anked “success of the old boys’ club”, “weakness of the old
girls’ club”, “unconscious discrimination” and “lack
qualified women coaches and administrators” as the important
factors of the declining role of women in intercollegiate
athletics, whereas their male counterparts perceived the four
most important factors as: “the lack of qualified women
coaches and administrators”, “unwilling of women to recruit
and travel”, “failure of women to apply for job openings” and
“time constraints due to family duties”.
In another study by Acosta and Carpenter (1988, as cited
in Weiss, Barber, Sisley, & Ebbeck, 1991) of over 250
collegiate athletic directors, results suggested that male
and female athletic administrators recognized the causes
differently about the declining numbers of female coaches.
Female athletic directors mainly cited “perceived
discriminatory practices in hiring”, while male athletic
directors frequently perceived as “the lack of qualified
female coaches, time constraints related to family, and the

failure of women to apply for positions” (p.337). This implied
that the sexual discrimination still existed in hiring
processes of coaches. It seemed that female coaches were in
disadvantages situation.
Acosta and Carpenter are two well-known persons who have
investigated the women’s sports at the college level in USA
since 1997. Wong (2002) did an interview with them to ask their
opinions about recruitment processes in coaching. They stated
that more women have the opportunity to play sports, but fewer
than half of the coaching positions of women’s teams are filled
with women because of “a lack of effort athletic directors
to recruit for those coaching positions”, and “a lack of desire
on the part of many young women to go into coaching”. They
got the ideas that were (1) some discrimination was still
happening, (2) the recruiting of female coaches was not taking
place equally as the coaches on the men’s team and (3) male
athletic directors often failed to keenly recruit women to
coach women’s teams in the same way they would urge for a coach

for men’s teams.
Athletes’ attitudes
Besides the administrators, many studies indicated that
the athletes themselves might have gender bias in rating
hypothetical coaches (Habif, Raalte & Cornelius, 2001;
Medwechuk & Crossman, 1994; Parkhouse & Williams, 1986;
Weinberg, Reveles & Jackson, 1984). Weinberg et al.’s (1984)
study of 85 basketball players (42 male and 43 female) from
junior high school, high school and college found that males
displayed more negative attitudes toward female coaches than
that of females, while male and females did not seem different
in their view of male coaches.
Parkhouse and Willians’s (1986) study of 160 high school
basketball players (80 male and 80 female) rated the
hypothetical male coach the same and always higher than the
hypothetical female coach, while male subjects rated the
female coach even lower than did female subjects. Both male
and female athletes preferred a male coach.

Habif et al., (2001) found with 139 basketball players
(80 male an 59 female) and 129 volleyball players (42 male
an 87 female) at NCAA Division III level that the attitudes
of both basketball and volleyball players toward female
coaches were changing. They started to accept female coaches,
but preferences for male coaches might still exist, especially
basketball players, particularly for athletes involved in
traditionally masculine sports. It appears that the trend of
attitude toward female coaches has been changing because of
the raising status of women in the society. However, for some
traditionally masculine sports, the athletes still have
gender bias about the coaches, such as basketball.
Although the above studies found that athletes preferred
male rather than female coaches, different sports’ athletes
might have different views influenced by their levels and the
sports’ characteristics. Medwechuk and Crossman’s (1994)
study of 38 swimmers (18 male and 20 female) that both male
and female swimmers showed a tendency to favour same sex

hypothetical coaches. While male athletes showed a stronger
desire to swim for male coaches over female coaches, female
athletes exhibited no preference. This study’s results were
contrary to the findings of Weinberg et al. (1984) and
Parkhouse and Williams (1986) whose studies indicated that
female athletes perceived male coaches as same as male
athletes.
By interviewing 38 elite female soccer players from
Germany, Norway, Sweden and the USA, they seemed to been more
satisfied with female than male coaches because of their
female style of communication. They also thought that ‘female
coaches were better psychologists’, and some believed that
women should not be coached in the same way as men (Fasting
& Pfister, 2000). It seems that some athletes, especially
female, do not have gender biases against female coaches.
According to LeDrew and Zimmerman’s (1994) study of 410
high school athletes’ attitudes toward female coaches, the
subjects indicated their view about female coaches as follows:

1. Females have enough physical strength to coach;
2. Females have the ability to be good coaches;
3. Females have the same opportunities to coach that
male have;
4. Females have the ability to coach both male and female athletes.
This implies that female coaches are trusted to have
enough ability in performing coaching and to have same
opportunities to coach that male have.
Nevertheless, as many athletes had a personal preference
for a male coach and had little contact with being coached
by female, both these factors implied the traditional bias
to affect athletes’ preferences for the gender of their
coaches (LeDrew & Zimmerman, 1994). However, is the gender
of coaches important? Does it mean male must have higher
ability and technique than female to coach well in sports?

Gender of coaches is not important
Coaching profession is a work based on the coaches’
expertise and coaching ability alone, gender should never
enter into the decision (Murray, Beach, Crawford, Ott &
Lombardo, 1999). This implies that gender of coaches is
irrelevant, but the ability and experience are.
Coaching involves an own form of psychological
discipline. Everybody should be aware of what they need to
excel in their particular field, while coaches have ability
to express this broad information to their athletes consistent
with their own potentials, capabilities and personality
traits. It is believed that a qualified female coach has the
ability to help both male and female athletes develop his or
her exclusive qualities and talents to reach the peak
performance (Shen, 2000). Ott (Murray et al., 1999) said:
“The best person should be selected to coach a team.
Twenty-five years of gender equity have provided the
profession with a multitude of individuals, both

male and female, capable of leading athletic teams.
Gender should not be an issue in hiring a coach for
an athletic team. The profession must insist on
strict review of qualifications, experience,
competency, and references, and move beyond the
issue of gender. The major concern should be
providing the athletes with the best available adult
leadership.” (p.62)
Besides, Brian Agler, who was one of three male head
coaches in American Basketball League, perceived that
there was no difference in how teams play in regards to
male or female coaches, but it was depend on the individual
style of coaching and the ability of the team (Dixon,
1999).
Although traditional masculine sports, such as,
basketball and soccer, are labeled unfriendly to female
coaches, it can be changed. If women continue and succeed in
becoming a visible attendance like coaches in these sports,

it is probably that the nature, which female coaches is not
welcome to join in, of these traditional masculine sports will
change (Knoppers, 1992). When people understand that the
gender of coaches is not important, consequently, women will
be accepted in these sports and increase the number and status
of female coaches in the future.
Reasons of female coaches for entering and
leaving the profession
To investigate more about for declining number of female
coaches, numerous studies have explored the reasons why women
enter and leave the coaching profession.
Reasons for entering the profession
Motivation, which is divided into intrinsic motivate and
extrinsic motivate, is an important to motivate people to
participate in sport. Intrinsic motivates for people to
participate in sport include fun, excitement, love of
achievement and the opportunity to demonstrate and
improvement of skills, whereas extrinsic motive for taking

part in sport come in the form of prizes, trophies and less
tangible rewards (Jarvis, 1999).
Women enter the coaching because of the motivations
(Barber, 1998; Eitzen, & Pratt, 1989; Hart, Hasbrook & Mathes,
1986; Pastore, 1991; Raedeke, Granzky & Warren, 2000; Raedeke,
Warren & Granzky 2002; Weiss & Stevens, 1993). Based on Prus’
(1982) career contingencies model, Hart et al. (1986)
conducted an examination of 256 current and 105 former female
interscholastic coaches to find out the reasons for entering
and withdrawing coaching. Their results indicated that
current coaches entered the coaching profession for extending
their sporting and competitive experience, whereas former
coaches began their coaching career because of their teaching
responsibilities, and they wanted to work with advanced
students.
Raedeke et al.’s (2000) study of 295 USA swimming coaches
found that the reasons why individuals are committed to
coaching and burnout. The results showed that the participants

appeared to be highly committed and had a fairly favorable
outlook on coaching. They were moderately high satisfaction
with their positions, high coaching benefits, and perceived
their current position to be somewhat more attractive than
alternative options.
These studies implied that motivations are not only
encouraging female to enter the coaching profession, but also
are viewed to make women stay in coaching. Eitzen and Pratt
(1989) found that the female coaches stayed in coaching
because they might feel a greater intensity to prove their
worthiness. It was not only by winning, but also through
upholding traditional coaching values, that they assumed were
expected by parents, community members, school administrators,
colleagues, and students.
Pastore’s (1991) study showed that there was a consensus
between male and female coaches on reasons for entering and
continuing coaching. Nevertheless, female coaches showed
higher ranks than male coaches on three reasons for coaching

occupation. The first reason was ‘working with advanced and
motivated athletes’, because of the skill and technique levels
of today’s female athletes increased as compared to previous
years. The other reason was ‘helping female athletes reach
their athletic potential’. This difference may be attributed
to today’s opportunities in athletics. Female coaches might
recognize that they did not have the same opportunities as
today’s athletes and thus would like to see female athletes
maximize their opportunities. The last reason was ‘becoming
a role model’. The diminishing number of women coaches might
indicate that the role models of female coaches decreased.
Current female coaches might perceive that role models were
important and needed for female athletes.
Weiss and Stevens (1993) found that based on social
exchange theory, female coaches identified both benefits and
costs of their profession. The benefits of coaching included
the enjoyment of working with athletes and seeing them learn
new skills and achieve goals, the challenge of encouraging

individuals to work as a team, and the fun of coaching itself,
whereas the costs were less time for family, work load related
to teaching/coaching responsibilities, sacrifice of personal
time, and inadequate program support.
Many coaches enter in coaching for intrinsic factors
rather than extrinsic factors, including their love of sport,
being a positive model and teaching sport and life skills to
youngsters (Barber, 1998). Also, Raedeke et al. (2002) found
that most former and current coaches rated intrinsic factors
as the most important coaching benefits, for instance, enjoy
working with athletes, the challenge of building a successful
program, and feeling of self-satisfaction. In contrast,
extrinsic benefits were rated as least important (e.g., travel,
stepping-stone to an administrative position, prestige).
Therefore, intrinsic factors seem to be more important than
extrinsic factors to motivate women enter and stay in coaching.
However, why do they choose to leave this profession?

Reasons for leaving the profession
Many studies sought to find out why female coaches leave
the profession. Hart et al.’s (1986) found that the female
coaches would leave the profession when their performance as
coaches were insufficient, whereas former coaches left
coaching because of perceived time and role conflicts with
their own lives.
Burnout, which was defined as “a syndrome of emotional
exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal
accomplishment” (Maslach & Jackson, 1986, as cited in Pastore
& Kuga, 1993), could contribute to another reason for female
coaches to leave the profession. Pastore and Kuga (1993) found
that female high school coaches had an appreciably higher
degree of burnout than their male counterparts that would
possibly make them decide to leave their positions.
In addition, with regard to the options and alternatives
for coaching, Weiss and Stevens (1993) found that present
coaches were more likely to quit coaching for retirement,

pursue a higher paying job outside of education, return to
school, or to be with their children, while former coaches
placed greater emphasis on obtaining more time for friends
and their teaching responsibilities.
Lack of job satisfaction has also been viewed as reason
for female coaches to leave the jobs. Sisley, Weiss, Barbar,
and Ebback (1990) believed that if female athletes’ attitudes
were gender biased toward female coaches, this might depress
them from becoming coaches, leading to further decrease in
the number of female coaches.
However, Pastore’s (1993) study was concerned with
determining if male and female coaches of women’s team were
satisfied with their current jobs. The results showed that
male and female coaches did not differ in overall attitudes
towards their jobs, which suggested that a lack of job
satisfaction might not necessarily be a particular reason for
female coaches to quit coaching. It seems that lack of job
satisfaction may not be concluded as the reason for women to

esign from coaching.
Time commitment was given as a constraint for female
coaches to leave their position. Pastore (1991) found that
females would be inclined to leave coaching because of family
and time constraints. The further study of Pastore (1992)
stated that female coaches tended to mention the increased
time required for coaching, increased intensity of recruiting,
and discriminatory practices of the administration as the most
important reason for leaving the profession.
Nevertheless, men, as same as women, will also incline
to leave coaching because of time and family constraints.
Hasbrook et al. (1990) found that both male and female would
be experienced time constraints and family responsibilities
and that “male rather than female coaches more often
experienced time constraints due to family responsibilities”
(p.259).
Weiss and Sisley (1984) found that the female youth sport
coaches were inclined to leave coaching because of “perceived

lack of coaching ability and a motivational decline” (p.344),
compared to male youth sport coaches who would leave because
of “conflicts with administrators and officials” (p.344) that
there was no significant differences were found between the
sexes with respect to time constraints with the family. It
seemed that the time commitment was the specific constraints
for female coach to resign the profession.
Besides, inadequate performance and skills in coaching
could lead female coaches to leave cocahing (Hart et al., 1986;
Weiss & Sisley, 1984). Hart et al., (1986) conducted an
examination of current and former high school female coaches’
motive for discontinuing the coaching profession. The results
indicated that current coaches would resign coaching “if their
performances were no longer adequate”, while former coaches
had left coaching primarily because of “time and role
conflicts” (p.76). And Weiss and Sisley (1984) found that the
female youth sport coaches would resign coaching because of
“perceived lack of coaching ability and a motivational

decline” (p.344). So, it implies that inadequate skills and
performance is one of the factors for female coaches to quit
coaching.

Chapter 3
Method
The purpose of this study was to investigate the positive
and negative experiences of female sport coaches in Hong Kong.
Are they in a more disadvantage situation? This study, using
a qualitative research method included semi-structured
interviews, had some advantages which are: (1) it was useful
to collect a great deal of ‘rich’ information about small
convenience samples (Veal, 1997), (2) due to little research,
it was supportive to explore the phenomenon of experience of
female coaches (Baumgartner, Strong & Hensley, 2002), and (3)
in-depth interviews allowed the researchers to understand
deeply about experiences of being a female coaches from the
interviewees’ points of view (Henderson, 1991).
This chapter was adopted by the following methodological
procedures:
1. Collection of Data
2. The Sample

3. Procedures
4. Method of Analysis
Collection of Data
A semi-structured interview was conducted. A list of
interview questions was used, but participants were also
encouraged to digress or expand the discussion into other
related areas of interest if they intended to do so. The
interview questions, list of a series of open-ended questions,
were designed to explore both positive and negative
experiences of female coaches in a deep dimension. The
questions focused on experiences related to gender,
motivations to stay in coaching, constraints, and reasons for
leaving coaching (see Appendixes A & B).
The samples were obtained through the researcher’s
contacts. A convenience sampling method was used. The samples
were selected to represent a broad representation of female
coaches with different characteristics, for example, coaching
experience and level of sports.

The Sample
The participants data set consisted of semi-structured
interviews with 21 female sport coaches in Hong Kong who were
categorized into four types: student-coach (n = 6),
teacher-coach (n = 9), part-time coach (n = 5) and a former
coach (n = 1). The student-coach refers to those students and
being a coach like a part-time job. The teacher-coach refers
to those teachers and as coaches for the school sport teams.
The part-time coach refers to coaches who have a full-time
work and being a coach in their leisure time, such as, weekdays’
nights. The former coach is a retired coach, who coached the
elite Hone Kong team during her coaching career.
The age of the participants were ranged from 21 to 60
years old. Eight of them were married. Their coaching
experiences were approximately from 3 to 30 years. They were
coaching at different levels, including beginners, training
stages and the elite Hong Kong teams. The types of sports they
were coaching included like artistic cycling, athletics,

handball, basketball, volleyball, tennis-table, badminton
and swimming. All participants, except the teacher-coaches,
were focused on coaching one sport only.
Procedure
The interview procedures were the same for both female
coaches. Before the permission of the interview, an oral
consent was granted from each interested participant. By
giving them some information of the study, the participants
would gain more confidence in the study and the researcher.
The content of the oral consent included: (1) a brief
description on the purpose of the research and its content;
(2) the participants’ rights in withdrawing the interview at
any time; (3) scheduling a suitable time for an interview.
Prior to commencing the actual interview, written
informed consent was sought from the study participants. This
was an elaboration of the oral consent, but presented in a
written format. The content included the scope of the
investigation and the participants’ rights before, during and

after the interview and research period. Voluntary
participation was emphasized in the consent as well, and
participants had every right to withdraw form the study
whenever she felt uncomfortable during the interview.
Each interview was tape-recorded to preserve the detail
of the interview and to facilitate a smooth pace in the
interview process. This action had been explained, and
reminded over again in the consent and to the participants
before starting the interview(s). The investigator had every
respect to the participation’ privacy during the process. In
addition, all materials were kept confidential and destroyed
when the study terminated. The interviewees’ names were
changed to protect their identities.
During the interview(s), participants were given a
period of about five minutes to go over the set of
semi-structured interview questions on their own (see
Appendixes A & B). They could ask questions whenever
appropriate. After they had gone through the questions, the

investigator asked the questions verbally to the participants.
The participants were encouraged to given detailed comments
and insights, with supporting facts when illustration their
ideas.
Method of Analysis
All interviews’ data was tape-recorded and transcribed.
Data analysis was done using the constant comparison technique
(Glaser & Strauss, 1967) that was systematic method for
recording, coding, and analyzing data. All interview
transcripts were read carefully and typed in Excel. A series
of initial codes was developed by open coding and axial coding
to represent experiences and thoughts expressed by the
interviewees. Open coding, which was performed during a first
pass through collected data, sought to locate themes and
assigns initial codes or labels in a first attempt to condense
the mass of data into categories, and axial coding was a second
pass through data to organize sets of initial codes or
preliminary concepts into broader categories and themes

(Neuman, 1997). Etic and emic descriptions were used to
describe the results of the analyses (Bestor, 2002; Henderson,
1991). Etic descriptions were used to communicate the
summarized categories, themes or patterns, whereas emic
descriptions were actual words from the study participants.
These emic descriptions were used to demonstrate the examples
and to further illustrate the findings. Finally, the results
of the inductive content analysis of interview responses were
presented.
As a part of the process of verification, parts of the
coded data were presented to the interviewees to check whether
the researcher had interpreted their meanings properly. Three
of the interviewees were invited to participate in this
process. Also, intercoder reliability checks were done with
two of the researchers’ friends. That is, three people coded
a sample of the data separately and then compared the codes
with each other. This process confirmed the reliability of
the researcher’s coding process (Neuman, 1997).

Chapter 4
ANALYSIS OF DATA
This study examined the experience of the female coaches
in Hong Kong. The results of analysis of the data are presented,
according to the themes emerged from the interviews. The
themes included:
1. Demographic Characteristics of the interviewees
2. Reasons of female having the intention in the sport
coaching profession
- Positive Experiences in coaching
- Motivations
3. Gender-related experiences
- Is gender important?
- Advantages
- Disadvantages
- Job opportunities
- Students’ attitudes
- Parents’ attitudes

4. Negative experiences of the female coaches in coaching
5. Constraints
6. Factors for leaving the profession
7. Satisfaction in performance
8. Confidence in coaching
Results
The results of the inductive content analysis of
interviewees’ responses are presented here. This would start
from axial coding, the broader themes of etic description to
the more specific descriptions from open coding. As well, emic
description, direct quotes from interviewees are presented
to demonstrate the examples and to further illustrate the
findings. Fictitious (false name) were used to protect the
identities of the interviewees.
Demographic Characteristics of the interviewees
The participants in this study were 21 female sport
coaches in Hong Kong who were categorized into four types:
student-coaches, teacher-coaches, part-time coaches, and a

former coach.
The age of the interviewees ranged from 20 to 60 years
old. Eight of them were married. Their coaching experiences
were approximately from 3 to 30 years. The types of sports
they were coaching included artistic cycling, athletics,
handball, basketball, volleyball, tennis-table, badminton
and swimming. They were coaching at different levels,
including beginners, training stages and the elite Hong Kong
teams. All interviewees, except the teacher-coaches, were
coaching one sport only.
Reasons of Female Having the Intention in
the Sport Coaching Profession
The interviewees entered this profession, either they
were athletes and were recommended by others to be coaches
or were teachers. The positive experience could contribute
to the motivations for women to remain in coaching. The reasons,
which were found in this study, were showed as follows,

Positive experience in coaching
Many interviewees showed that they experienced
positively in coaching. These positive experiences partly
contributed to them staying in the profession. These
experiences would be conceptualized as comprising: (1)
students’ skill improvement, (2) students’ achievement, and
(3) relationship with students.
Students’ skill improvement. Some interviewees felt
pleasure while their students improved the skills. For example,
Carmen, a part-time coach, was very aware of positive
experience when she saw some students improve in their skills,
and their result had a breakthrough. Some female coaches
believed students’ improvement could bring them positive
experience and satisfaction. Ann, a student-coach, said:
“(you teach a student) from knowing nothing to learn how to
swimming, it is a big satisfaction.” Nancy, a teacher-coach,
also experienced positively in “teaching a two-year old girls
to swim 50 meters within 1 to 2-years-time.” Besides, some

interviewees would feel happy when the students won in the
competition. This helped them to build up their confidence
to continue their work.
Students’ achievement. Besides the skill improvement,
students’ good behaviors were seemed as positive experience
for the interviewees, for example, when some students were
eager to learn the sports and practiced attentively. Some
students who tried their best in the competitions also touched
the coaches. Some coaches felt good when they saw the students
like the sport. These made them have a sense of achievement.
Although some students’ skills didn’t reach the coaches’
standard, they practiced diligently. Coral, a part-time coach,
said:
“Some of my students, mainly adults, didn’t have
chance to learn how to play badminton when they were
young. After they were grown and found the job, they
used their leisure time to learn the sport. They
practiced seriously that touching me. They were

eally serious about badminton and respected me.”
It appears that students’ skill improvement and
achievement are important factors that influenced the
female coaches to obtain fun and satisfaction.
Relationships with students. The close relationships
with students also were positive experiences to these coaches.
Some coaches had coached some students for a period of time
and known them well. Their relationships were looked like
friends. Cindy, a badminton teacher-coach, felt happy because
“some of them come to see me after their graduation.” It seems
that the close relationship with students is a positive
experiences for the female coaches.
Motivations
It was possibly that positive experiences could
contribute to the motivation, which was divided into two
categories: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Both motivations could bring the result of the female coaches
in remaining in coaching.

Intrinsic Motivations. The female coaches stayed in
coaching partly because they were intrinsically motivated,
such as, some female coaches felt satisfaction in coaching.
These intrinsic motivations included (a) satisfaction, (b)
interests, (c) positive coach and athlete interactions, (d)
sources of enjoyments, and (e) challenges.
(a) Satisfaction. Most female coaches in this study felt
satisfaction in coaching was the main motivation to continue
their job. They satisfied with students’ development and
improvement during practices, for example, Wing, a
student-coach, said: “When I teach students to know swimming,
or help them to improve their skill. I feel a great
satisfaction.” Apart from skills, some coaches felt
satisfaction when the students could develop their
personality and interests in sports through training. This
pushed the coaches to continue their job.
Some female coaches were also intrinsically motivated
by their sense of achievement in coaching. It provided

satisfaction for the interviewees to stay in the profession.
Some coaches commented that when their students won in the
school’s or district’s competition, they would feel satisfy.
This showed them their coaching method was workable and
successful. Carman, a swimming coach, said: “When some of the
students broke through the Hong Kong record or age group
competitions’ record, it made me think my effort haven’t
waste.” Therefore, it appears that the sense of achievement
provide satisfaction for the female coaches to motivated them
staying in coaching.
(b) Interests. Nearly half of the interviewees
recognized interest in coaching was one of key factors to make
them stay in coaching. Some coached stated they liked coaching
so much. Laura, a teacher coach, commented: “The main reason
(to continue coaching) is about my interest.” These showed
that having intrinsic interest is important for female coaches
to continue their job.

(c) Positive coach and athlete interactions. Positive
coach and athlete interactions also were a motivation that
interviewees were willing to continue the profession. It could
be categorized to: (1) relationships with athletes, for
example, Helen, a teacher coach, said: “Being a coach make
me have deeper contact with the students. Our relationship
is closer. This motivates me (to keep coaching).” And (2) help
athletes reach their potential. Some coaches wanted to teach
her students all the skills they knew, such as, Emily, a
badminton part-time coach, said: “I want to coach the students
for entering Hong Kong team or classing in the world rank.
This is my goal.” It appeared a positive coach and athlete
interaction is another intrinsic motivation to encourage the
female coaches staying in coaching.
(d) Sources of Enjoyment. Different sources of
enjoyments seemed to have induced the female coaches in this
study to continue their job. Some coaches got enjoyment during
training, whereas the others obtained fun in coaching lovely

children. Moreover, some coaches enjoyed to coach in the place,
where they had trained there when they were athletes.
Therefore, it showed that the female coaches were
intrinsically motivated by different sources of enjoyments
in their coaching job. All enjoyments could encourage them
to continue their work.
(e) Challenges. Some interviewees indicated that
challenges in coaching make them keep coaching. They felt
challenges during being a coach, such as, Daisy, a
former-coach, said: “Coaching is a great challenge. Not only
teach (the athletes) skills, but also needed to take care their
private life.” However, some coaches thought coaching was a
mission for them, for example, Yvonne commented: “I think this
is a vocation for bringing the students to see the world and
to broaden their social life through the competitions.” So,
It seemed that challenges in coaching one of the intrinsic
motivation to contribute the female coaches to keep coaching.

Extrinsic Motivations. In additions, the female coaches
also remained in the profession partly because of extrinsic
motivation, which referred to (a) extrinsic rewards, (b)
experience in coaching and (c) responsibility of work.
(a) Extrinsic Rewards. Money was the main extrinsic
rewards. Some interviewees stated that money, which supported
their cost of living, was partly of the motivations to make
them stay in coaching. Ann said: “In fact, money (is one of
the motivations) because coaching swimming is a well-pay job
(for my cost of living)”.
(b) Experience in coaching. Some interviewees thought
that obtaining experience in coaching for their future was
the other extrinsic motivation. Flora, a student-coach said:
“I think getting some experiences in coaching can let me
continue to be a coach in the future (after graduation).”
(c) Responsibility of work. Some teacher-coaches stated
that coaching was part of their job. They were responsible
to coach the sport teams. But, as they liked coaching

intrinsically, they didn’t think this was an issue.
It seemed that some female coaches were extrinsically
motivated to stay in coaching because of the extrinsic rewards,
experience in coaching and responsibility of work. However,
compare with the intrinsic motivations, they stated that
extrinsic motivations were less important.
Gender-related Experiences
How do the female coaches think about gender of coaches?
Some interviewees identified some gender-related experiences
that could influence their views of coaching. These
experiences included: advantages, disadvantages, job
opportunities, students’ and parents’ attitudes towards them.
Is gender important?
Most interviewees thought that gender of coaches was not
a main factor to affect the distribution of coaching position.
They concerned ability, work experience and individual
character more important than gender.

They believed that ability of the coaches affected their
coaching position rather than their gender. Fanny said: “I
think the convincing ability comes from my knowledge, not come
from my gender”.
Then, work experience in coaching was also believed to
be more essential than gender. They believed that work
experience and the ability in doing the result could affect
the status in coaching. Some interviewees stated that work
experience was more important than gender, for example, Carmen
commented while a young male coach was little work experience,
he might not have enough confidence. This could affect his
coaching performance. Others would also suspect him about his
ability.
Some coaches believed working attitude was important for
the coaches. They thought working attitude could affect
someone performance. If he / she had bad working attitude,
his / her performance would not been well. Besides, individual
character was another important factor in coaching. Some

coaches thought individual character could affect the
attitude in working.
It appeared that the interviewees did not recognize
gender to be an important factor that could affect their status
in coaching. They stated that ability, work experience,
working attitudes and individual character were more
important factors to influence their status.
Advantages
The interviewees believed they had advantages as a female
coach, especially in swimming. Some women swimming coaches
believed that most women and girls want to be coached by a
female coach rather than a male coach in swimming due to the
body contact. They stated that the girls and their parents
normally prefer a female coach because swimming might have
body contact during practices. Female students trusted female
coaches more than male coaches. Ruby also stated:
“In swimming, female coaches have an advantage. They
can hold both male and female students to improve

their actions without misunderstanding and
embarrassed. I have met some male coaches who cannot
hold the female students to show them the actions.
This cannot help the students directly.”
Moreover, in the secondary schools’ levels of sports,
many female athletes prefer female coaches to male coaches.
Cindy, a badminton teacher-coach said:
“I think female coaches have more advantages. For
example, in the secondary schools’ level, female
athletes prefer female coaches. Have you heard the
news about a male coach molested sexually his female
athletes? Parents will worry about their children.
They think female coaches to be better.”
It seemed that the female coaches have some advantages
in coaching, especially in swimming and secondary schools.
Besides, some female coaches indicated that some characters
of female were the pros comparatively better than that of male.
They were attentive, good communication skill, patience and

caring.
Disadvantages
While being a female has certain advantages, there are
disadvantages as well. Some interviewees recognized that men
had better physical strength than that of them. These were
the advantage for the male in coaching. If someone wanted to
employ a coach for training a professional sport teams, they
would prefer a male coach. It seemed that it was one of the
factors that affect the development of female coaches in sport.
Cindy stated:
“Male is better than female (in specific aspects).
This is not a sexual discrimination, but it is
affected by the born-physical difference. Male, who
are thirty to forty years old, still have enough
physical strength to practice with youngsters. But
compare with female, their physical strength
decreases faster (than that of male).”
The skills level of the coaches was an issue that

decreases the employment rate of female coaches in coaching.
Although this was not about the issue of gender, people were
rather to employ male coaches than female coaches because of
the skills level. Daisy said: “Men have higher skills’ levels,
so many people want to employ a male coach. It is completely
about the skills’ levels, not about the gender”.
Also, male coaches had more choices than women coaches
in coaching positions. They might coach both boys’ and girls’
teams, whereas female coaches were expected to coach girls’
teams only. Some interviewees stated that there was not any
influence for male or female coaches to coach a female team.
But, coaching a male teams was unfriendly to women because
female coaches were viewed different standards of skills and
understandings for male players. Male coaches were viewed more
appropriate to coach the male teams. So, the number of choices
in coaching positions was for male more than for female. Mamie
said: “If I was a male coach, I could coach all sports’ teams.
But female coaches may not have any chance to coach boys’ teams.

The chances decrease half”.
Besides the choices in coaching positions, the number
of female in participating in sports was fewer than that of
male. This could lead to decline the number of female to enter
the coaching profession. Cathy said: “It may be affected by
the number of male and female participating in sports. More
male participates in sports, so it has an influence. Because
of lacking female join in sports, fewer female to be a coach”.
It appeared that being a female coach also has certain
disadvantages, such as, lower skills levels compare with male
and fewer choices of coaching positions. This may lead them
to be a more disadvantages situation in coaching.
Job opportunity
All interviewees agreed that the job opportunity of
entering coaching was equal for both male and female. However,
the employment rate of male coaches is higher due to their
advantages and female coaches’ disadvantages.

These female coaches thought men had advantages in
coaching. Men were viewed to have better skills to coach both
genders. Daisy, the former head coach, stated:
“I think this is equal to enter in coaching, but male
skills are better than that of female. This make men
to bring the skills in the full play...I will employ
a male coach because he can practice with both male
and female athletes. So, why I still need to employ
a women?”
Some coaches thought that male coaches also had more
choices than that of female in the coaching position. The
teacher-coach, Mamie, said:
“Basically, the opportunity is equal, but you need
to consider the number of choices. Men can coach all
aspects, so they can coach both male and female
(athletes). The number of choices is so many. But
the choices for women may be deceased half”.
As well, some interviewees thought that female coaches

had disadvantages in the promotion of coaching. They were
affected by lack of role model in coaching and the family issue.
Fanny, a teacher-coach, said:
“Equal (in entering coaching), but there is a little
bit effect in the higher-level sports. There are few
experienced and high status’ female coaches in Hong
Kong. With influenced by the responsibilities of
families, the female coaches cannot put too much time
in their further work. Therefore, this explains that
many experienced and high status’ coaches are male
in coaching.”
However, some interviewees believed that female could
promote in higher-level sports when they were not affected
by the family. Crystal, a part-time coach, said: “In fact,
some female coaches, even married, but no child, can continue
to put much time in their career (coaching).”
Nevertheless, one of interviewees, Sally, stated that
the promotion was determined by the coaches’ willingness

themselves. She said: “You need to strive for it (promotion
chance) yourself. You need to learn a lot of things. Go to
learn more if you have chance, consequently, you will have
a chance to be a coach of the Hong Kong team.”
It seemed that the job opportunities to enter in coaching
is equal. Although the female opportunities of promotion in
coaching were sometimes affected by different factors, such
as, the skill levels, responsibilities of the family, some
of the promotion chances could be selected by the coaches
themselves.
Students’ Attitudes
Students’ attitudes would influence the coach’s
experiencing of female coaching. Many student-coaches
indicated that they haven’t felt any discrimination from male
or female students. However, some of them thought there were
some differences among the students’ attitudes which were
affected by the coaches’ sport-related skill, different
sports’ cultures, the discrimination on women, and the

elationship with the coach.
Firstly, the coaches’ sport-related skill is the main
factor influences the students’ attitude towards their female
coaches. Most students, especially male athletes, would be
skeptical about the ability of the female coaches when they
met her at the first time. If they knew the coach didn’t have
abundant skills in the sports, they would not respect her
during the practice. However, when they found out that the
coaches’ skills were good, they could respect the coaches.
Some interviewees stated that the students would care their
coaches’ skills ability. They would completely accept the
coaches who taught them a lot, and vice versa. For example,
Laura, an athletics teacher-coach, said: “If the students
don’t known me, or their skills are a little bit above the
normal, they will suspect my ability. But, when they realize
that I know more them, they will accept me.”
Obviously, some of the female coaches in the study
thought that the sports’ culture affected the attitudes of

students towards the female coaches, for example in coaching
soccer and basketball, students attitudes towards coaches
were affected by the coaches’ gender and work experience
because of the nature of the sports. Some male students didn’t
expect themselves to be coached by a woman, such as, Cathy,
a soccer coach, said: “Soccer is viewed as a male sport. (The
students think) there is no reason to find a female coach.
They will suspect the ability of a woman.”
Some interviewees in the study felt that some students
might not like to listen to the female coaches’ advices. Some
of them discovered that some male students like to tease the
female coaches. Mamie, who coached a male basketball team when
she was young, said:
“The team members thought they could win, whereas
they didn’t because of their poor physical fitness.
If an old male coach told them that they couldn’t
win, they would accept. But they didn’t believe
because I was a young female coach.”

Parents’ attitudes
Parents’ attitudes would affect the status of female
coaches. Many swimming student-coaches, who coach children
whose parents’ accompanied with them during the training,
found that parents prefer female coaches to male coaches. This
always happened especially their children were daughters, as
this would avoid awkward feeling in the training. This
indicated female coaches had advantages in swimming.
However, some parents concern with the work experience
of coaches. They wanted the coaches who were full of
experiences. Ruby, a student-coach, said: “parents look at
you and think you are so young and inexperienced. They will
not trust you completely.”
Some interviewees recognized that the sexual
discrimination would still exist with parents, especially
male parents. Some male parents would suspect the ability and
the profession alien to female coaches, even in swimming. Ann,
a swimming coach, said: “Some parents are brash and challenge

my profession . . . This behavior is done by male parents
because of the male chauvinism, whereas female parents will
be friendlier owing to same gender . . . Men always show
prejudice against female coaches.” It appeared that some
female coaches were discriminated by the male parents because
of sexism.
Negative experience of the female coaches in coaching
During the interviews, the interviewees showed many
negative experiences from their coaching. These had been
identified from the interviewees, which included: (a)
students’ negative behaviors, (b) male dominance in coaching
position, (c) sexual discrimination, and (d) inadequate
sport-related skills.
Students’ negative behaviors
It was the most frequently concerning by the women
coaches. They felt negative while the students behaved badly
after leaving the teams, for example, Carmen said:
“I had met some students I taught before. As they

didn’t follow our swimming schedules and regulations,
they left the teams. Although they joined the others
swimming clubs, they changed to the bad appearance
and dressing styles. They were looked like to walk
in the wrong way of life.”
Some coaches would lose their confidence while their
students were naughty. Flora said: “Negative was the students
are naughty and don’t listen to me. This makes me think about
the problem that is caused by me, or them . . . I felt negative
and question about my qualification”. And some female coaches
felt disappointed while their students had argument with
teammates, such as Fanny commented: “when they had
competitions, they sometimes argue with teammates. Their
behaviors that cannot accept and face the defeat make me feel
disappointed.” It seemed that students’ negative behaviors
would make the female coaches experience negatively.

Male dominance in coaching positions
Moreover, male dominance in coaching position was a
negative experience for some female coaches. For example,
Fanny stated: “In the Hong Kong School Sports Federation’s
competition, I met a difference between male and female
coaches in athletic meeting. Most coaches who have rights to
speak are men. Their voices are so loud.” It seemed that male
dominance in coaching positions might contribute to a more
disadvantage situation for the female coaches in the
profession.
Sexual Discrimination
Some interviewees also had negative experiences from
being discriminated against by other male coaches. They
experienced that some male coaches could look down on them.
For example, Emily, a part-time badminton coach, had this kind
of experiences:
“A boy had been coached by me for a period of time.
Once, a male coach criticized his skills and actions

in playing badminton to be looked like as a girl.
But this was not true. This made me question my
ability to coach male athletes.”
Besides the male parents, sexism was also existed
by some male coaches to discriminate against some female
coaches. This made the female coaches experience
negatively and in a more disadvantage situation in
coaching.
Inadequate sport-related skills’ experience
This also contributed to a negative experience for the
inexperienced coaches. These events always happened with
teacher-coaches who had the responsibility to coach different
school teams. They were allocated to coach some sports teams
those were not their strength. Nancy, a teacher-coach in a
secondary school, said:
“The unhappiest (experience) was in the first year
of my teaching career. I needed to coach a girl
volleyball team, but it is not my familiar sport.

It is difficult to handling some of the skills, and
the students were in the basic level. So coaching
was not happy. I didn’t know many things because of
lack experience in my first teaching year. I didn’t
like to face them.”
Yvonne, a teacher-coach and table tennis was not her
strength sport, also had this kind of experiences. She said:
“In table tennis, if the students know that my skills are
not better than that of them, they will not respect me
anymore”.
It appeared that sexual discrimination and inadequate
sport-related experience not only are negative experiences
for some female coaches, it also are constraints for them.
These may make them lose their confidence in coaching.
Constraints
Besides sexual discrimination and inadequate
sport-related experience would contribute to the constraints
for some female coaches, the interviewees also indicated that

their coaching development would be retarded because of some
constraints. These constraints included: (a) family
constraints, (b) time issues, (c) physical disadvantages, and
(d) issue of tradition.
Family Constraints
The most frequent constraints were coming from the family.
These included the responsibility after married. They thought
the family was more important than coaching. They were willing
to be a good wife and mother after they got married. Then,
they could decrease the time for training the students. They
might go back home to look after the family after school.
Crystal, who got married, stated:
“Sometimes it (the family) is a disturbance. This
retards my choice in coaching. I could have chance
to be the coach of higher levels’ teams at first,
but because of the baby was born, I chose my family
and gave up the chance that time.”

Moreover, the pregnant period affected the women in
coaching. Cindy, who experienced the pregnant, said: “The
unhappiest thing was I didn’t feel free during my pregnant.
I was active before. But the pregnant made me not suit some
actions. I believed this was the worry for some female
coaches.”
It seemed that the role of women in the family is one
of the constraints for some female coaches to develop their
coaching career.
Time issues
Time issues always affected the student-coaches and
part-time coaches. Insufficient of time would make them give
up some coaching work because they didn’t think coaching was
their major job. Some student-coaches thought their studies
were the most important. They might decline many jobs of
coaching while they used the time for their studies. Some
part-time coaches also had time issues, for example, Sally
said: “As I am not a full-time coach, too much work in my

initial job will affect to continue my interests (in
coaching).” It appeared that some female coaches were willing
to give up the coaching job because of the time issues.
Physically disadvantages
Women were influenced by their physiology that their
physical fitness was worse than that of men. This disadvantage
caused bad effect for female coaches in the profession. Some
interviewees believed that physical strength was important
in coaching jobs. Crystel said: “This is no doubt that skills
can be supplemented (in coaching), but the physical strength
is inborn. There is no compare with it. Men’s physical strength
is surely better than that of women.” As male’s physical
strength was better than that of female, some female coaches
felt this would make them be looked weaker than their male
counterparts. It seemed that physically disadvantages would
affect the image of the female coaches.

Issue of tradition
Some interviewees recognized that issue of tradition was
one of their constraints. Traditionally, some of the sports
were seemed not to suit women’s coaching, such as, soccer and
tennis. Cathy, a soccer coach, said: “I have been a coach since
form four. My appearance was looked younger, and I lacked
experience. But I coached soccer, which was viewed as a male
sport. This was a big problem for me.” According to some female
coaches’ own experience, they indicated that male coaches were
seemed better than female coaches. Most coaches they met were
male. This made them think coaching was a male career. Wing,
a swimming coach, said: “Until present, not only swimming,
in my observation that many sports were believed male coaches
had higher authority and trust, especially in the competitive
sports.” It appeared that issue of tradition would be a
constraint for the female coaches. They might make them more
disadvantages in coaching.

Factors for Leaving the Profession
The interviewees indicated some factors that would lead
them to leave coaching profession, which included: (a)
physical symptoms of ages and fitness, (b) other job
opportunities, (c) lack of time, (d) tired of coaching, and
(e) family issue.
Physical symptoms of ages and fitness
The findings indicated that physical symptoms of ages
and fitness seemed to be the main factor that induced the female
coaches to leave the profession. They recognized getting older
and decreasing skills’ levels not to complete the coaching
requirement. Some female coaches said that they would not
coach anymore, if their skills’ levels could not fulfill the
job because of their physical fitness. For example, Linda,
a student-coach, stated: “My body condition do not suit to
be a coach, I will not do it any longer.” However, some
interviewees might continue working in the sport fields after
quitting coaching. They would leave the job because of getting

older, but they would change to do the administrative works
in sport. They didn’t want to leave sport completely, for
example, Carmen said:
“If I find a career that are more influential, I will
change the job. But I think I will not leave the
category of coaching. I will not stay in the front
line to coach (students). I may be in charge of
training the coaches.”
It seemed that getting older and poor physical
fitness are the main reasons for the female coaches to
leave this profession.
Other job opportunities
Some interviewees would leave the profession because
they hadn’t thought coaching was their lifelong career. They
would change their career if possible. Crystal, a part-time
badminton coach, said:
“…I will quit the job when there are another better
jobs. Coaching is not a stable work. I need to go

everywhere for coaching that consumes me much energy.
I don’t think it is a long-term job. I may do it as
a part-time form.”
It appeared that coaching is not the ultimate career for
some female coaches. If they have other better job
opportunities, they will change their job. This is a factor
that they will quit coaching.
Lack of time
Besides, lack of time would be another factor that
brought the female coaches to leave coaching. The interviewees,
mainly student-coaches, recognized being a coach as a
part-time job. They would quit coaching if the time of coaching
was not suitable for them. Some coaches believed they would
leave coaching, while another work made them not have enough
time in coaching. Flora, a student-coach, said: “the internal
(factor for leaving coaching) is I don’t have enough time in
coaching . . . I think being a coach is a part-time job only.”

Tired of coaching
In addition, Tired of coaching meant the female coaches
didn’t have any interest in coaching. Some interviewees
believed that they would leave coaching, when they felt tired
in coaching or no one recognize the worth of them, for example,
Crystal said: “When I won’t be a coach even in part-time form,
it will be the reason of tried of coaching.” It seemed that
tired of coaching is another factor to make some female coaches
resign from coaching.
Family issue
Finally, some interviewees thought family issue, such
as, inadequate financial compensation for family would make
them quit coaching, for example, Wing, a student-coach, said:
“I need to share the financial burden after I get marry. If
the

Satisfaction in Performance
More than half of the interviewees satisfied with their
coaching performance. And the other interviewees, who were
either student-coaches or teacher-coaches, could not get
fully satisfaction. As some them need to coach many school
teams, they felt unsatisfied about ignoring some students.
Some of them felt unsatisfied because they didn’t have enough
coaching experiences, whereas some of them were felt
unsatisfied because their students were low skill levels.
Confidence in Coaching
Most interviewees indicated that they had confident in
performing coaching. The others also had confident, too,
however, they needed to combine with other factors, included,
(1) the level of student. They would have confident to perform
better while they could meet good players’ team. (2) the skills
they teach. They would have confident in their specific sport,
swimming. And (3) the level of the sports they coach. They
would have confident in coaching beginners.

The interviewees believed coaching was not for men only.
(Interviewer: Do you think coaching is suitable for male only?)
Nancy said: “I don’t think so. Coaching is seemed to be
suitable for men because of the influence of tradition. But
as the world changes, I believe women will get a place in
coaching.”
Discussions
Reasons of Female Having the Intention in
the Sport Coaching Profession
Positive Experiences in coaching
Many interviewees indicated that most positive
experience was caused by the students’ improvement,
achievement and attitudes. This could contribute to the
motivations for the female coaches to stay in coaching.
Motivations
From the results, it showed that both intrinsic and
extrinsic motivations would affect the female coaches to stay
in coaching. However, the intrinsic motivation was seemed to

e more important than that of extrinsic. A survey conducted
by Barber (1998) also indicated that many coaches entered in
coaching for intrinsic factors rather than extrinsic factors.
Much research have indicated that women entering
coaching because of the intrinsic factors (Barber, 1998;
Eitzen & Pratt 1989; Pastore, 1991; Raedeke et al., 2002; Weiss
& Stevens, 1993). Weiss and Sevens (1993) found that female
coaches obtained benefits in their work, for instance, the
enjoyment of working with athletes and seeing them learn new
skills and achieve goals, the challenge of encouraging
individuals to work as a team. It appears that although there
are cultural differences between Hong Kong and USA, the female
coaches have same motivations to enter coaching.
Raedeke et al. (2002) found that most former and current
coaches rated intrinsic factors, such as, enjoyment working
with athletes, and feeling of self-satisfaction as the most
important coaching benefits. And in this study, the intrinsic
motivations, included satisfaction in coaching, interests,

positive coach and athlete interactions, sources of
enjoyments, and challenges, would be viewed as the intrinsic
benefits. These benefits could enrich the interviewees’ life
and made them feel satisfaction. Although some of the
interviewees agreed coaching was part of their work, they were
satisfied when they saw their students’ improvement and
development. They stayed in this profession because of their
intrinsic motivations.
So, according to the females coaches’ own experience of
motivation, it is possibly to give more evidences to suggest
that the intrinsic benefits are the most important factors
to encourage the female coaches to keep coaching.
Gender-related Experiences
Most interviewees thought ability, work experience and
individual characters were more important than gender in
coaching. They didn’t recognize their gender was an issue to
affect their work. It was similar to the view of Shen (2000),
a former male- javelin’s female coach in USA, stated that a

qualified female coach has the ability to help both male and
female athletes develop his or her exclusive qualities and
talents to reach the peak performance.
Although some coaches in the study believed women had
advantages in coaching swimming and equal opportunities to
enter this profession, some interviewees stated that the
choices of coaching for women and the promotion chances to
higher-level sports were possibly unequal. These were
affected by the culture of the sports and the inborn physical
fitness that male coaches could have more advantages. Besides,
the interviewees experienced the discrimination on their
ability by some of the male students and parents. For instance,
soccer that was traditionally seemed to be coached by men.
This affects the students’ attitude not to accept the female
coaches. They prefer male coaches to female coaches. Many
studies indicated that the athletes themselves may have gender
bias, which the male subjects prefer male coaches rather than
female coaches, in rating hypothetical coaches (Habif et al.,

2001; Parkhouse & Williams, 1986; Weinberg et al., 1984),
particularly in some traditionally masculine sports (Habif
et al., 2001), such as soccer and basketball. Therefore, it
seems that some sports’ female coaches still have
disadvantages due to the culture of these sports.
Negative Experiences of the Female Coaches in Coaching
Some interviewees indicated that they experienced
negatively in some events. These negative experiences implied
that there were disadvantages for some of the female coaches.
These experiences, especially the sexual discrimination and
male dominant in coaching positions, contributed to some
female coaches to be underrepresented in this profession that
have been occupied traditionally by men (Medwechuk & Crossman,
1994). They may suspect their status comparatively with that
of male. If they are unsatisfied because of these experiences,
it is possibly to contribute to the result of leaving coaching
and decreasing the number of female coaches.

Constraints
Constraints can retard the development of female coaches.
Although some of the interviewees thought they didn’t have
any constraints, the others had. These could affect the status
of female coaches in this profession and induce the women
leaving from coaching.
In this study, many interviewees were influenced by their
family, especially the coaches who had children. The role of
mothers or wives is more important than the role of coaches.
They are willing to give up to coaching or the chance of
promotion because of their family.
The traditional thinking about coaching as male
dominance career also hindered the development of female
coaches. Some interviewees were objected to enter coaching
by their family members. This would affect the number of female
coaches and make coaching be seemed as a male career. However,
since the status of women in the society has been enhanced,
it is possibly that more women will participate in sports.

Then, more women will be willing to be a coach in the future.
Besides, some female coaches believed that their
physical disadvantage was one of the constraints to retard
their development. Female coaches were viewed that they were
not suitable to coach male athletes because of their physical
fitness. However, male coaches were possibly to coach both
male and female students. This showed there was a disadvantage
for the women in coaching position.
Even though the result of this study implies that the
female coaches have constraints in the job, little research
has been conducted to indicate specifically about the issues,
especially in Hong Kong. It seems that many researchers
concern about the premise of women constraints in sport rather
than, in particular, female coaches’ constraints.
Nevertheless, since the number of female coaches has been
decreasing after 1978 (Acosta & Carpenter, 2000), there is
a need to increase in the understanding of constraints of
female coaches and to investigate the issue of decreasing the

number of female coaches in the future.
Factors for Leaving the Profession
The factors, which were found in this study to cause the
interviewees to quit their work, included physical symptoms
of ages and fitness, other job opportunities, inadequate time,
tired of coaching and family issue.
These findings are consistent to those studies that have
identified the reasons for female coaches to leave the
profession (Hart et al., 1986; Pastore, 1993; Weiss & Stevens,
1993). Hart et al.’s (1986) study found that female
interscholastic coaches in US would leave the profession when
their performance as coaches was insufficient or time and role
conflicts with their own lives. Weiss and Stevens (1993) found
that the coaches quit coaching to retire, pursue a higher
paying job outside of education, return to school, or to be
with their children. Thus, despite the cultural differences,
the results of this study showed that some of the reasons were
similar with these studies.

However, as most of the interviewees viewed coaching as
a part-time job, there were a little bit differences between
this study and the others. In this study, some of the female
coaches thought that they might leave coaching when there was
no any employment. This is a new reason many studies haven’t
mentioned.
Satisfaction and Confidence
Most interviewees showed their satisfaction and
confidence in performing coaching. This implied that they
didn’t feel disadvantages in the profession. They believed
they could do as same as their male counterpart.
To be concluded, although most interviewees thought they
didn’t have any disadvantages comparatively with men in
coaching, some of them implied that they experienced some
negative incidents due to the traditional influences and
sexism in some sports. Moreover, some female coaches in this
study indicated that there are still some disadvantages for
women in Hong Kong coaching, particularly in the high-level

sports and the male dominance sports. Therefore, this study
found that the female coaches are in disadvantages situation
in parts of the coaching job.

Chapter 5
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
This chapter is divided into three main parts. They were
(1) Summary of Results, (2) Conclusions and (3)
Recommendations for Further Studies.
Summary of Results
The major aspect of this investigation sought to provide
information regarding the female coaches’ positive and
negative experience in Hong Kong. With regard to the results
of this study, a summary of the findings was presented as
follows,
Demographic Characteristics of the interviewees
1. The participants in the study were 21 female sport coaches
in Hong Kong who were categorized into four types:
student-coaches, teacher-coaches, part-time coaches, and
a former coach.
2. The age of the interviewees ranged from 20 to 60 years old.
Eight of them were married.

3. Their coaching experiences were approximately from 3 to
30 years. The types of sports they were coaching included
artistic cycling, athletics, handball, basketball,
volleyball, tennis-table, badminton and swimming. They
were coaching at different levels, including beginners,
training stages and the elite Hong Kong teams.
4. All interviewees, except the teacher-coaches, were
coaching one sport only.
Reasons of Female Having the Intention in
the Sport Coaching Profession
Positive experience
5. The interviewees met positive experiences which were come
from their students. These included: (a) students’ skill
improvement, (b) students’ achievement and (c) positive
relationship with students.
6. The positive experiences could contribute to the
motivations for the female coaches to stay in coaching.

Motivation.
7. The motivations were divided into two categories, which
were intrinsic motivations and extrinsic motivations, in
this study.
8. The interviewees indicated their intrinsic motivations
contained (a) satisfaction in coaching, (b) interests, (c)
positive coach and athlete interactions, (d) sources of
enjoyments, and (e) challenges. And the extrinsic
motivations were (a) extrinsic rewards, (b) experience in
coaching and (c) responsibility of work.
9. The interviewees indicated the intrinsic motivation was
the main reason to stay in the profession. The extrinsic
motivation was comparatively less important.
Gender-related Experiences
Is gender important?
10. Most interviewees thought that gender of coaches was not
a main important to affect the distribution of coaching
position.

11. They stated that ability, work experience, working
attitudes and individual character were more important
factors to influence their status.
Advantages
12. The interviewees believed they had advantages as a female
coach, especially in swimming. Girls and their parents
normally preferred a female coach, as swimming might have
body contact during practices.
13. They believed that many female athletes prefer female
coaches to male coaches in the secondary schools’ levels
of sports.
14. They indicated that some characters of female, such as,
attentive, good communication skill, patience and caring,
were the pros comparatively better than that of male.
Disadvantages
15. Some female coaches indicated that men had better physical
strength and skills than that of women. These were the
disadvantages for the female while someone wanted to employ

a coach for training a professional sport teams. They would
prefer a male coach.
16. They stated that male coaches had more choices than women
coaches in coaching positions. Male coaches might coach
both boys’ and girls’ teams, whereas female coaches were
expected to coach girls’ teams only.
17. They stated that as the number of female in participating
in sports was fewer than that of male, this could lead to
decline the number of female to enter the coaching
profession.
Job opportunities
18. All interviewees agreed that the job opportunity of
entering coaching was equal for both male and female.
19. However, Some interviewees thought that female coaches had
disadvantages in the promotion of coaching. They were
affected by lack of role model in coaching and the family
issue.

20. The results found that the female opportunities of
promotion in coaching were sometimes affected by different
factors, such as, the skill levels, responsibilities of
the family, but some of the promotion chances could be
selected by the coaches themselves.
Students’ attitudes
21. Students’ attitudes would influence the coach’s
experiencing of female coaching.
22. Some interviewees thought there were some differences
among the students’ attitudes which were affected by the
coaches’ sport-related skill, different sports’ cultures,
the discrimination on women, and the relationship with the
coach.
Parents’ attitudes
23. Parents’ attitudes would affect the status of female
coaches.
24. Sexual discrimination would still exist with parents,
especially male parents. Some male parents would suspect

the ability and the profession alien to female coaches.
Negative Experiences of the Female Coaches in Coaching
25. Some interviewees indicated many negative experiences,
which included: (a) students’ negative behaviors, (b) male
dominance in coaching position, (c) sexual discrimination,
and (d) inadequate sport-related skills.
26. Sexual discrimination and inadequate sport-related skills
would be also viewed as the constraints for the female
coaches.
Constraints
27. The interviewees indicated that had some constraints in
coaching, which included: (a) family constraints, (b) time
issues, (c) physical disadvantages, and (d) issue of
tradition.
Factors for Leaving the Profession
28. The interviewees indicated some factors that would lead
them to leave coaching profession which included: (a)
physical symptoms of ages and fitness, (b) other job

opportunities, (c) lack of time, (d) tired of coaching,
and (e) family issue.
Satisfaction in Performance
29. More than half of the interviewees satisfied with their
coaching performance.
30. And the other interviewees, who were either
student-coaches or teacher-coaches, could not get fully
satisfaction because: (1) they felt unsatisfied about
ignoring some students due to they needed to coach many
school teams; (2) they didn’t have enough coaching
experiences; and (3) their students were low skill levels.
Confidence in Coaching
31. Most interviewees indicated that they had confident in
performing coaching.
32. The others also had confident, too, however, they needed
to combine with other factors, included: (1) the level of
student, (2) the skills they teach, and (3) the level of
the sports they coach.

33. The interviewees believed coaching was not for men only.
Although coaching is seemed to be suitable for men because
of the influence of tradition, as the world changes, women
would get a place in coaching.
Conclusions
The followings were the conclusions of this study.
1. The study found that most interviewees experienced
positively with their students’ improvement, achievement
and the relationship with them. When they saw the students
have better development and improvement, they would be
satisfied. However, Some interviewees indicated that they
also had negative experiences included students’ negative
behaviors, male dominance in coaching position, sexual
discrimination, and inadequate sport-related skills.
These negative experiences implied that there were
disadvantages for some of the female coaches. These
experiences contributed to some female coaches to be
underrepresented in this profession that have been occupied

traditionally by men. If they are unsatisfied because of
these experiences, it is possibly to contribute to the
result of leaving coaching and decreasing the number of
female coaches.
2. This study found that the factors motivate them to be a
coach and continue their profession could be divided into
two categories: intrinsic motivations and extrinsic
motivations. Intrinsic motivations contained (a)
satisfaction in coaching, (b) interests, (c) positive
coach and athlete interactions, (d) sources of enjoyments,
and (e) challenges, whereas extrinsic motivations were (a)
extrinsic rewards, (b) experience in coaching and (c)
responsibility of work. These findings indicated the
intrinsic motivation was the main reason to stay in the
profession. The extrinsic motivation was comparatively
less important.

3. This study found that the female coaches had some
constraints in coaching, which included: (a) family
constraints, (b) time issues, (c) physical disadvantages,
and (d) issue of tradition.
4. The study found that some factors that would lead the female
coaches to leave coaching profession which included: (a)
physical symptoms of ages and fitness, (b) other job
opportunities, (c) lack of time, (d) tired of coaching,
and (e) family issue.
5. This study found that more than half of the interviewees
satisfied with their coaching performance. And the other
interviewees, who were either student-coaches or
teacher-coaches, could not get fully satisfaction because:
(1) they felt unsatisfied about ignoring some students due
to they needed to coach many school teams; (2) they didn’t
have enough coaching experiences; and (3) their students
were low skill levels.

6. This study found that most interviewees indicated that they
had confident in performing coaching. The others also had
confident, too, however, they needed to combine with other
factors, included: (1) the level of student, (2) the skills
they teach, and (3) the level of the sports they coach.
7. This study found that the female coaches are in
disadvantages situation in parts of the coaching job.
Although most interviewees thought they didn’t have any
disadvantages comparatively with men in coaching, some of
them implied that they experienced some negative incidents
due to the traditional influences and sexism in some sports.
Moreover, some female coaches in this study indicated that
there are still some disadvantages for women in Hong Kong
coaching, particularly in the high-level sports and the
male dominance sports.
Recommendations for Further Studies
Prior to consideration of declining number of females
in coaching, an idea of investigating the positive and negative

experiences of female sport coaches is crucial. Are they in
a more disadvantage situation? The findings from this study
indicate that some female coaches are in a more disadvantage
situation in parts of the coaching job. They are influenced
by the traditional culture of the sports and sexism in some
sports, such as, soccer. Although some female coaches think
they have the advantages in some sports, for example, swimming,
their occupation of the positions in these sports are still
fewer than their male counterparts, especially in the highest
levels. As the results, coaching will be viewed that it is
not suitable for female because male occupies the main stream
of coaching. This makes coaching be seen as a male dominance
job.
Based on the results of this study, some recommendations
are made for the future study.
1. Qualitative research is one of the good research methods
to investigate deeply about the feeling and experiences
of the female coaches. It can be used in the further studies.

2. As the number of female coaches and the sports items in
this study is limited, it may not be able to reflect all
situations of the female coaches in different sports in
Hong Kong. Some of the sports, especially traditionally
masculine sports, can be investigated deeply about the
experiences of the female coaches.
3. As the number of female coaches has been decreasing, further
studies are recommended to increase of understanding of
female coaches’ constraints and to investigate the issue
of decreasing the number of female coaches in the future.
4. It is worthwhile for further studies to investigate both
male and female coaches’ experiences and to have a
comparison between genders.
5. Besides gender, different types and levels of sports are
also worthwhile to investigate in and to have the
comparison between different natures of the sports.
6. Further studies can investigate more former coaches’
experience and to have the comparison with that of current

coaches. This can know more about the differences of
coaching experience in different period of time.
Finally, it is hoped that the findings presented here will
provide some ideas in the study of positive and negative
experiences of female coaches in Hong Kong in the future.

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Appendix A
List of Questions
(English Version)
1. What types of sports you are coaching in your lifetime?
How long have you been coach for this sport?
What are the age and the skill level of your students in
general?
2. For what ways that lead you to choose coaching as your
career?
What motivate your work?
3. Have you deal with any positive or negative situations for
your coaching in the past? If yes, do you think it’s related
to your gender (female)?
4. Have your students been in doubt as your skills and abilities
and act irrationally only because of your gender? Did they
follow all your instructions during the coaching?
5. According to our Chinese cultural background which
mentioned that ‘women are prefer to stay home for housework’
and the coaching is dominated by men, do you think this can
influence you carrying your tasks and your believes to be
a female coach?
6. Have you experienced any constraints and difficulties after
you became a coacher? Moreover, could you point out some
of the you other problems which is mainly because of your
gender as a female coacher?
7. What will be the main reason for you to give this career
up?

8. Do you think there is an equal opportunity to be a coacher?
9. Are you satisfied with your working performance and the
tasks?
10. Can you carry out your career (as a female coach)
confidently?
According to the interviewees’ answer, the investigators may
ask more questions or ask deeply.

Appendix B
問 題 大 綱
(Chinese Version)
1. 教 什 麼 運 動 項 目 ? 年 資 ?
學 員 是 什 麼 年 紀 、 水 平 ?
2. 從 何 途 徑 而 成 為 教 練 ?
有 什 麼 推 動 力 令 你 繼 續 教 練 的 工 作 ?
3. 成 為 教 練 後 , 曾 否 有 正 面 或 負 面 的 經 歷 ?
這 些 經 歷 , 會 否 與 自 己 是 女 性 的 身 份 有 關 ?
4. 學 員 曾 否 有 因 為 你 是 女 性 教 練 的 身 份 , 而 對 你 有 特 殊 的 看 法 或 態 度 ?
會 否 不 遵 從 你 的 指 示 或 質 疑 你 呢 ?
5. 中 國 傳 統 「 男 主 外 , 女 主 內 」 的 觀 念 及 教 練 多 是 男 性 擔 任 的 工 作 , 有 否 曾 影
響 你 的 教 練 工 作 或 對 自 己 是 女 教 練 的 看 法 ?
6. 成 為 教 練 後 , 曾 否 遇 到 一 些 困 難 或 阻 礙 ?
又 有 沒 有 因 為 是 女 性 的 身 份 , 在 教 練 界 中 遇 到 另 一 些 困 難 ?
7. 有 什 麼 原 因 , 會 令 你 不 再 從 事 教 練 工 作 ?
8. 是 否 覺 得 進 入 教 練 界 的 機 會 是 男 女 平 等 ?
對 自 己 的 工 作 及 表 現 , 是 否 滿 意 ?
9. 對 自 己 的 工 作 , 是 否 有 信 心 勝 任 ?
以 上 只 為 問 題 大 綱 , 問 者 可 能 會 因 應 受 訪 者 之 回 答 內 容 , 而 作 出 更 深 入 的 詢 問 。

APPENDIX C
Consent Form to the Interview
(English Version)
Department of Physical Education
Hong Kong Baptist University,
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
I am an undergraduate student at the Hong Kong Baptist University. As part of
my graduation requirement, I am conducting a research on the attitudes of being a
female coach and constraints they need to face in Hong Kong.
You are invited to participate in a research study through personal interviews.
Your participation is entirely voluntary. However, in order to make the result more
valid, your participation is highly appreciated. I would like to conduct an interview,
which is going to last for thirty to forty-five minutes. The period of investigation will
last for a month.
It should be noted that all interviews would be tape-recorded and kept
confidential. All material will be destroyed after the termination of the study.
Should you have any queries concerning the procedure of this research, please
feel free to contact the researcher, Mr. Jason Chan at 9868-3079.
Thank you very much for your time and assistance.
Yours sincerely,
Jason Chan
Consent Form
I have read and understood the above information. I have received a copy of this
form. I agree to participation in this study.
Investigator’s Name
Subject’s Signature:
____________________
Date: ______________
____________________
Date:_______________