Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Traditionally, there has been a low presence of women in the sports labour market and sports leadership positions, especially in coaching positions. In order to provide elements of understanding, this research proposes an analysis of the situation that coaches experience in Catalonia. Specifically, the aims were to: Describe the sociodemographic characteristics of coaches, assess the psychosocial work environment of coaches, analyse the presence of work-life conflict in coaches. This project was developed using a multiple method approach, including surveys and interviews, organized in 3 studies. The results of the first study showed the under-representation of women in the field of coaching, as well as some key indicators in the analysis of the labour market from a gender perspective. The second study allow researchers to identify the areas of the psychosocial work environment (work-family conflict, emotional demands, insecurity on working conditions) that negatively affected coaches’ health, as well as those that affected positively coaches’ health. The third study highlighted the different strategies that men and women coaches used in order to manage their work-life conflict. In conclusion, the results highlight that coaches need favourable work environments that supports their permanence and development in the profession, as well as become an attractive profession to other social groups under-represented in coaching. Thus, in addition to examining the regulation and quality of working conditions, there is a need to rethink the organizational culture of sport clubs and sports organizations.