Gender Inequality in Sports and Physical Activity: The Role of Macro-level Gender Inequality

Significant progress has been made in recent decades towards greater gender equality in sports and physical activity, however there are still significant differences between men and women in terms of participation. Based on the theory of ‘doing’ gender and hegemonic masculinity, this paper examines how gender inequality at the institutional level affects physical and sports activity at the individual level. A multilevel analysis of Eurobarometer 97.3 (n = 21.067) was carried out on data collected in 27 EU member states in 2022. Gender equality at the macro level was measured by the Gender Equality Index (GEI). The results revealed that gender equality has a positive effect on sports and physical activity in all EU countries, however, a significant reduction in the gender gap was confirmed only in physical activity. The gap in sports activity did not depend on gender equality. The gender equality level is not associated with an increase or change in the free time of mothers for sports. Thus, it was confirmed that the institutional context influences various sports practices, but to better understand this influence, additional research and consideration of factors such as age, type of sports activity and the characteristics of various sports is required.