Nicole M. LaVoi, PhD, director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport and senior lecturer in the School of Kinesiology, and Anna Goorevich, MSc, doctoral student and researcher with the Tucker Center, co-authored a book chapter titled, “Refuting gender essentialism about women in sport coaching,” featured in the Research Handbook on Gender and Diversity in Sports Management (Pirkko Markula & Annelies Knoppers, Eds.).

This chapter questions common ideas about women in sports coaching, aiming to break down barriers to gender equality. It talks about harmful beliefs, explains their impact, and suggests new ideas, using research to support ways to empower women in coaching for greater influence.