The perceived barriers affecting female participation in secondary physical education

The research question addressed in this capstone was, what are the perceived barriers that negatively affect females participation in secondary physical education? Key influences for this capstone came from observation of the lack of participation and motivation of teenage girls in physical education classes. This capstone goes in depth uncovering the factors that play a part in influencing females to stray away from participating in physical education classes, notably: curriculum, teacher influence, social interaction, body centered issues and perceived competence. Two methods, surveys and a focus group, were used to discover the perceived barriers in females currently taking PE in an international school. In the focus group, common themes emerged along with strategies shared by the girls from their experiences in PE. These results are meant to help future physical education teachers encourage and support female participation in a PE environment