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school, boys were seen as being stronger atmaths, while girls preferred languages. Butdo these stereotypes still exist?The pupils in the survey were asked: “Do youthink that boys are better than girls at maths?”A total of 18% of respondents agreed. However,when the answers are broken down bygender, a major gap appears: 25% of boys andonly 9% of girls still believe in boys’ naturalsuperiority in this area (Chart 3.02).Boys are a major part of the solutionThe gender gap is even more obvious when itcomes to sport. The pupils were asked: “Doyou think that any of the sports are not suitablefor girls?” The results showed that 40% ofmale respondents believe that boxing is notsuitable for girls, compared with 26% offemale respondents. Similarly, 16% of boysthink judo and karate are not appropriate forgirls, while only 8% of girls concur.The research shows that, across all sports,boys were more likely than girls to indicatethat sports were “not suitable for girls”. Thisgender gap is significant, or even highlysignificant, for most sports. 31 These findingsshow that, even at such a young age, twice asmany boys than girls think that certain sportsare not suitable for girls (Chart 3.03).This gender gap is especially critical duringtransitional periods such as puberty. If theopposite sex does not value the physicalactivities in question, there is a high probabilityof those activities being dropped. This issupported by research indicating a sharpdrop in physical activity between the agesof 9 and 15, with stronger declines for girlsthan boys. 32Our research focused on girls’ access tosport, as this was identified as a major barrier.However, to get the full picture of genderdiscrimination, it is necessary to study thebarriers for boys as well. Do girls have theGood Practice■ Football Associationof NorwayThe Football Association ofNorway has led the way as regardssports organisations by electinga woman to its executive board.Quotas in Norway allowed KarenEspelund to be elected to itsboard, and she has since goneon to be the first woman to sit onthe UEFA Executive Committee.www.spiegel.de? ?Do you have asporting hero?Do you want tobecome aprofessionalathlete?52%72%Σ 1,233 pupils34%59%Σ 713 pupilsChart 3.04: The influence of role models; breakdown by gender31For sailing, skiing, boxing, judo and karate, the difference is significant (5% confidence level); for basketball,swimming, volleyball, gymnastics and football, it is highly significant (1% confidence level).32Nike, Designed to Move: A Physical Activity Action Agenda, 2012, Page 6.DISCRIMINATION IN SPORTKING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION17