Equality, not equity: equestrian women coaches’ gendered experiences in high-performance coaching within a Gender-integrated Sport

Research into the coaching experiences of women in gender-segregated sports has identified structural gender hierarchies as the basis of inequality. The purpose of this research was to explore whether gendered expectations, stereotypes and discrimination exist for coaches in the unique environment of the gender-integrated sport of equestrianism. While equestrianism provides a unique insight as a sport where men and women compete as equals, there is limited research exploring coaching environments in this field, especially for women in coaching positions. Semi-structured interviews were used to examine the experiences of six high-performing women equestrian coaches. Results indicated that participants have not only been stereotyped but have experienced gender discrimination both in recruitment and in the course of their everyday work. We also show that women coaches are successfully navigating the dominant gender order by drawing upon a variety of strategies. This has allowed some women coaches to progress to high-performance positions; however, hierarchical structures remain and therefore legitimise the dominant gender order in sport. We therefore recommend that coach education discusses gendered practices and that the governing bodies associated with the sport support women through formalised and sustained frameworks.