A lack of confidence in their ability accounts for women being under-represented in coaching youth sports, research has found.
Massey University senior sport management lecturer Sarah Leberman said she got insights into the issue while on a Fulbright Scholarship in the United States.
Dr Leberman said few womenwere coaching at the top and elite levels, so researchers decided to track back to entry level to look at why they were not taking on coaching positions.
She said only about 15 per cent of youth sport coaches in the United States were women, and the New Zealand figure was also likely to be low.
Dr Leberman focused on soccer, the fastest growing women's sport in the United States.
"It showed that the main reason women don't take part is a lack of confidence in their abilities, the cost to their children in terms of perceived favouritism and the challenge of separating the mother/coach roles," she said.
"There is also a perception that sport is male-dominated and that most coaching clinics are run by men, with little consideration given to the needs of women."
Dr Leberman said research suggested there was a need to provide women-only courses, run by women, as well as mentoring and the highlighting of the benefits of mothers being a coach, such as being a role model.
The idea of transferring mothering skills to the coaching context was also explored.
"Many women we interviewed had never considered that their skills as mothers could be relevant to coaching."
Dr Leberman planned to continue her research in New Zealand and compare results.
"The research participants in the United States were predominantly middle-class white women.
"We now want to look at the issues in a context that includes Maori and Pacific Island women."
