Research
Leadership Development can help lower dropout rates
Since Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act was enacted in 1972, which prohibited exclusion of participation or benefits and discrimination in any federally funded program or activity, girls’ participation in sports has significantly risen.[i] Title IX’s effect on girls’ sports participation is evidence in and of itself, as girls’ participation in high school sports grew from 290,000, in 1972, to over 3.2 million girls participating over forty years later, in the 2014-15 school year.[ii] Research shows there to be a positive relationship between self-esteem, body image, physical health, grades, graduation rates, and college attendance and participation in sports and activities, particularly for adolescent girls.[iii]
Alarmingly though, regardless of this astounding growth in participation rates, and regardless of the positive relationship between self-esteem and participation in sports, the attrition rate of girls, more specifically adolescent girls, in sports and activities is on the rise.[iv] The Women’s Sport’s Foundation likewise stated, that comparatively to boys in sports, there is a noteworthy trend of withdraw, or dropout, from sports and activities for adolescent girls. The rate of girls versus boys participating in interscholastic athletics by senior year is one quarter to one half and the “dropout” rate is six times greater for girls compared to boys in athletics.[v] This concerning attrition rate is a result of themes of:
Cooperation and connectedness over competition, lower tolerance levels for poor sportsmanship, crises of confidence among teenage girls, poor coaching, the concept that sports are unfeminine, middle school and high school sports’ focus on winning, not participation, and a lack of support from family.[vi]
Several other themes were also discovered when researching the causes behind the dropout rate increase for adolescent girls: environment and motivational climate,[vii] stereotype threats,[viii] teasing,[ix] gender disparities,[x] physical self-esteem,[xi] and sport competence.[xii] This research shows that there seems to be some explanations as to why, despite the astounding increases in sports participation for females, there are still increases in the attrition rate of girls in sports, specifically through adolescence.
Leadership Development programs can make a large difference in providing girls a safe environment to learn skills and develop as future leaders. There are several studies that examine its benefits as a practice, even more specifically its benefits for adolescent girls. A longitudinal study on the effects of a leadership program on self-esteem and self-efficacy in school. The study, which took place at a high school in Hong Kong, China, found that there was a direct result of the Leadership Development program on girls’ self-esteem.[xiii] Ellen Markowitz, founder of PowerPlay NYC, a girls’ sports-based youth and leadership development organization, found in her research that participants in a study of adolescent girls in her organization’s academy “gained competence in the domains of global self-worth, athletic competence, and career and future self. They perceived that they enhanced their skills in sports and in networking and communication and that they developed their professional identities.”[xiv]
Due to the many risks that girls face during adolescence, more specifically for girls of color or lower socio-economic status, it is the “critical time wherein interventions that offer opportunities to demonstrate self-efficacy, provide social support, and give voice to girls may serve as important influences to alter this potentially harmful trajectory.”[xv] The girls proved that the program “serves as a source of strength to resist the cultural messages that may undermine their self-confidence, diminish or discount their self-identity, and encourage them to exist within limited and limiting roles prescribed by society.”[xvi] Hoyt and Kennedy concluded that “this can only happen effectively and cooperatively when young women feel safe and challenged” in an environment that “allows them to be both introspective and critical while being empathetic and cooperative.”[xvii] Adolescence is not an easy time frame in anyone’s life, but for girls especially adolescence can further silence them in society and stop them from reaching their true authentic selves. Leadership development programs can minimize those effects. Yet, it only happens if girls feel like they are in a safe environment that they can empower themselves and others to find their authentic leader selves. Further, sports training should be paired with leadership training, especially for girls, because in order to help girls develop into strong and healthy women, girls need conditions, like activities and programs, where self-esteem is fostered, including “perceptions of competence and social support.”[xviii]
These conclusions absolutely furthered One Degree Leadership’s resolve to create a self-sustaining sports-based leadership development program curriculum that will combine theory and experiential practices to help develop adolescent girls in the leadership arena, furthermore marrying the “cooperative and competitive.”[xix] Archard suggested that, “one important result of such a finding may be the development of educational practice is in order to meet the specific needs of female students.”[xx] The hope is that subsequently adolescent females who are exposed to leadership development will be more likely to enter leadership positions in adulthood, in turn creating change in “gender equality in society.” [xxi]
[i] Women’s Sports Foundation. (2012). Do you know the factors influencing girls
participation in sports. Retrieved from: http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/support-us/do-you-know-the-factors-influencing-girls-participation-in-sports
[ii] National Federation of State High School Association. (2014). Participation survey.
Retrieved from: http://www.nfhs.org/ParticipationStatistics/PDF/2014-15_Participation_Survey_Results.pdf
[iii] Bobbio, A. (2009). Relation of physical activity and self-esteem. Perceptual & Motor
Skills, 108(2), 549-557. doi:10.2466/PMS.108.2.549-557;
Women’s Sports Foundation. (2015b). Sports for life. Retrieved from:
http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/programs/sports-4-life/grant-information-and-to-apply
[iv] Slater, A. & Tiggemann, M. (2010). “Uncool to do sport”: A focus group study of
adolescent girls’ reasons for withdrawing from physical activity. Psychology Of Sport & Exercise, 11619-626.
[v] De Lench, B. (2008). Sports dropout rate for girls six times rate for boys. Adapted
from: Home team advantage: the critical role of mothers in youth sports. (2006). Harper Collins.
[vi] De Lench, B. (2008). Sports dropout rate for girls six times rate for boys. Adapted
from: Home team advantage: the critical role of mothers in youth sports. (2006). Harper Collins.
[vii] Keegan, R. J., Harwood, C. G., Spray, C. M., & Lavallee, D. E. (2009). A
qualitative investigation exploring the motivational climate in early career sports participants: Coach, parent and peer influences on sport motivation. Psychology Of Sport & Exercise, 10361-372. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2008.12.003;
Vazou, S., Ntoumanis, N., & Duda, J. L. (2006). Predicting young athletes'
motivational indices as a function of their perceptions of the coach- and peer-created climate. Psychology Of Sport & Exercise, 7(Special Issue: Interpersonal Relationships in Sport and Exercise), 215-233. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2005.08.007;
Moreau, N., Chanteau, O., Benoit, M., Dumas, M., Laurin-lamothe, A.,
Parlavecchio, L., & Lester, C. (2012). Sports activities in a psychosocial perspective: Preliminary analysis of adolescent participation in sports challenges. International Review For The Sociology Of Sport, 49(1), 85-101;
Slutzky, C. B., & Simpkins, S. D. (2009). The link between children's sport
participation and self-esteem: Exploring the mediating role of sport self-concept. Psychology Of Sport & Exercise, 10(3), 381-389. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2008.09.006
[viii] Slater, A. & Tiggemann, M. (2011). Gender differences in adolescent sport
participation, teasing, self-objectification and body image concerns. Journal Of Adolescence, 34(3), 455-463. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.07.006
[ix] Boiché, J., Chalabaev, A., & Sarrazin, P. (2014). Development of sex stereotypes
relative to sport competence and value during adolescence. Psychology Of Sport And Exercise, 15(2), 212-215. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2013.11.003
[x] Hively, K. & El-Alayli, A. (2014). “You throw like a girl:” The effect of stereotype
threat on women's athletic performance and gender stereotypes. Psychology Of Sport & Exercise, 1548-55. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2013.09.001
[xi] Bobbio, A. (2009). Relation of physical activity and self-esteem. Perceptual & Motor
Skills, 108(2), 549-557. doi:10.2466/PMS.108.2.549-557.
[xii] Bowker, A., Gadbois, S., & Cornock, B. (2003). Sports participation and self-
esteem: Variations as a function of gender and gender role orientation. Sex Roles, 49(1/2), 47-58.
[xiii] Wong, M. S., Lau, T. M., & Lee, A. (2012). The impact of leadership programme
on self-esteem and self-efficacy in school: A randomized controlled trial. Plos ONE, 7(12), 1-6. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052023
[xiv] Markowitz, E. (2012). Exploring self-esteem in a girls' sports program:
competencies and connections create change. Afterschool Matters, (16), 11-20.
[xv] Hoyt, M. A., & Kennedy, C. L. (2008). Leadership and adolescent girls: a
qualitative study of leadership development. American Journal Of Community Psychology, (3-4), 203.
[xvi] Hoyt, M. A., & Kennedy, C. L. (2008). Leadership and adolescent girls: a
qualitative study of leadership development. American Journal Of Community Psychology, (3-4), 203.
[xvii] Hoyt, M. A., & Kennedy, C. L. (2008). Leadership and adolescent girls: a
qualitative study of leadership development. American Journal Of Community Psychology, (3-4), 203.
[xviii] Markowitz, E. (2012). Exploring self-esteem in a girls' sports program:
competencies and connections create change. Afterschool Matters, (16), 11-20.
[xix] Archard, N. (2013). Adolescent leadership: The female voice. Educational
Management Administration & Leadership, 41(3), 336-351. doi:10.1177/1741143212474804
[xx] Archard, N. (2013). Adolescent leadership: The female voice. Educational
Management Administration & Leadership, 41(3), 336-351. doi:10.1177/1741143212474804
[xxi] Archard, N. (2013). Adolescent leadership: The female voice. Educational
Management Administration & Leadership, 41(3), 336-351. doi:10.1177/1741143212474804