Abstract
Background: While studies have addressed the reasons why coaches choose or leave the coaching profession, an initial inquiry into coaching should focus on the level of interest among athletes in becoming coaches.
Objectives: The study investigated differences between male and female athletes’ intention to pursue a coaching career in South Africa.
Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional research design involving 200 (152 male and 48 female; Mage = 29.21, standard deviation [s.d.] = 4.75) athletes. Participation in the study was voluntary. Data were collected through various scales assessing athletes’ self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers and supports, choice goals and intention to coach.
Results: The findings showed that male athletes recorded significantly (p < 0.05) higher mean values for self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, choice goals and intention to coach than female athletes. Two factors were shown to be independently predictive of the intention to coach: self-efficacy (β = -0.21, p < 0.01) and barriers (β = 0.19, p < 0.01).
Conclusion: This study provides novel information to sports federations on the factors influencing athletes’ career aspirations.
Contribution: This study adds to the body of knowledge on interest in coaching after an athlete’s playing career is over and offers baseline data for encouraging and enlisting athletes as coaches.
Keywords: self-efficacy; barriers; athletes; choice goals; outcome expectations.
Introduction
Coaching is a visible profession that has been studied from a variety of perspectives (Al-Emadi et al., 2018; Jowett, 2008). For example, sports coaching research has been conducted in South Africa on topics such as educational needs (Kubayi et al., 2016), gender issues (Surujlal & Vyas-Doorgapersad, 2015), talent identification and development (Lethole et al., 2024) and sources of stress (Kubayi et al., 2018). Research has also investigated factors that influence coaches’ decisions to enter or exit the coaching profession. These factors include the impact of a role model, an interest in working with children, a desire to develop athletes’ skills, a desire to win and a sense of fulfilment (Kubayi, 2015). Other studies have offered compelling evidence that coaches leave the profession because of discrimination, a lack of organisational support, low compensation, job conflict with family and social life and pressure to win (Kubayi et al., 2017a; Surujlal & Vyas-Doorgapersad, 2015).
While the above-mentioned studies have advanced our knowledge about coaching (Al-Emadi et al., 2018), a preliminary investigation into the coaching profession should focus on the level of interest among athletes in becoming coaches. Kamphoff and Gill (2008) sampled 201 college athletes on their perceptions of entering the coaching profession and the barriers and discrimination they face as coaches. Their findings showed that male athletes were more likely to become coaches than their female counterparts. Clopton (2015) indicated that gender differences within the coaching profession may be partly because of perceptions formed before entry. Although choosing a career can be a complicated process, there are factors (e.g., barriers, goals, outcome expectations, support and self-efficacy) that play an important role in the decision. The social cognitive career theory (SCCT) investigates these factors, making it a useful framework for examining the factors that may influence athletes’ interest in pursuing a career in sports coaching (Bernhard, 2010).
Theoretical framework
This study is based on the SCCT (Lent et al., 1994), which is aimed at understanding how individuals make decisions and take actions (Clopton, 2015). The SCCT considers self-efficacy and other personal variables, including choice goals, as key factors in assisting individuals in directing their own behaviour (Bandura, 1986). According to the SCCT, people form their job interests during key stages of their educational and professional journey. Different learning opportunities and rewards are offered at these stages, creating expectations regarding the outcomes of their endeavours and a level of interest or disinterest in further opportunities linked to career pathways (Clopton, 2015). People are likely to develop interests based on their perceptions of their performance (self-efficacy) and the potential results of their efforts (outcome expectations) (Lent et al., 2010).
Contextual elements also influence the decision-making process (Clopton, 2015) as contextual supports and barriers moderate the ways in which people translate their career interests into objectives and goals (Lent et al., 2001). Only a few studies have used the SCCT framework to investigate athletes’ intention to pursue a coaching career. One such study, carried out by Clopton (2015), used SCCT to examine gender differences in student-athletes’ perceptions of entering the coaching profession. The findings showed no differences between male and female student-athletes in their perceptions of prospective social support and potential unfavourable outcomes should they decide to pursue a career as a coach. Male student-athletes showed significantly higher levels of perceived barriers to entering the coaching profession, but they also reported higher levels of positive expectations and higher perceptions of their own coaching efficacy (Clopton, 2015).
Aside from the abovementioned study, not much research has been carried out from the athletes’ point of view. Instead, the majority of published studies have focussed on coaches (Kubayi & Coopoo, 2018). In South Africa, very little research has even explored athletes’ desire to become coaches. As Schull (2017, p. 99) noticed, the interests of a ‘large … pool of qualified candidates’ for coaching are being ‘overlooked’. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the interests of South African athletes in pursuing a coaching career once they finish their playing careers. More specifically, it investigates the differences between male and female athletes’ intentions to pursue a coaching career. By gaining insight into the factors influencing student athletes’ career aspirations, the South African Sports Coaching Association and sports federations can enhance their efforts to recruit them as future coaches.
Research methodology
Research design and participants
This study adopted a cross-sectional research design. A total of 200 (152 male and 48 female; Mage = 29.21, standard deviation [SD] = 4.75) athletes from various teams participated in the study. Their participation was voluntary. Most participants were involved in cricket (33%), which was followed by hockey (25%), rugby (14%), athletics (12%), netball (10%) and soccer (6%).
Measures
The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire with demographic information and respond on different scales to items purporting to assess self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers and supports, choice goals and intention to coach. For each questionnaire, the final score was calculated using the mean.
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy was measured using nine items adapted from Everhart and Chelladurai (1998) (Cronbach’s α = 0.914). Participants were required to provide answers to questions focussing on actions coaches would perform (e.g., ‘Resist interference by parents, alumni and other groups’). Each item was scored on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (no confidence) to 7 (complete confidence).
Outcome expectations
Participants were required to provide answers to questions on the results they might anticipate from working as a coach (e.g., ‘I will earn a high salary by becoming a coach’). Nine items adapted from Cunningham et al. (2005) were utilised (Cronbach’s α = 0.879). These items reflected physical, social and self-evaluative outcomes (Bandura, 1986). Each item was measured on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
Barriers and supports
To assess factors that might negatively influence the decision to become a coach, the study included six barrier questions (e.g., ‘There is a lack of opportunities to become a coach’) taken from Lent et al. (2000) and Cunningham et al. (2007) (Cronbach’s α = 0.849). Each item was anchored on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Questions assessing support participants received (e.g., ‘I have all the training needed to become a coach’) were also included. This assessment used six items taken from Lent et al. (2000) and Cunningham et al. (2007) (Cronbach’s α = 0.903). Each item was answered on a seven-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
Choice goals
Career goals were measured by asking participants about their level of interest in becoming a coach after graduation (Cunningham et al., 2007) (Cronbach’s α = 0.76). Three questions (e.g., ‘Becoming a coach is something that really interests me’) were asked (Bernhard, 2010). Each item was anchored on a seven-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
Intention to coach
Intent was measured based on Hagger et al. (2002) formulation of behavioural intentions, which includes three items. Each item was assessed on a seven-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The study cross-checked the participants’ responses using two sets of three questions, each set containing two positive statements and one negative statement. It should be observed that six sets of questions were needed to assess the five SCCT elements because choice goals was assessed with two measurements (Bernhard, 2010).
Data collection
The lead investigator oversaw the data collection process, which involved distributing questionnaires to each team member before and after training sessions. After being given instructions, each participant completed the questionnaire on their own, taking around 10 min in total.
Ethical considerations
Ethical approval to conduct the study was received from the university’s Research Ethics Committee (no FCRE 2023/02/016). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Research Committee and with the Helsinki Declaration ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all athletes involved in the study.
Data analysis
Descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, frequency counts and percentages were used to analyse data. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare significant differences between male and female athletes’ scores for self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, support, choice goals and intention to coach. The effect size (ES) using Cohen’s d was used to ascertain the magnitude of the differences and was categorised and interpreted as small (< 0.20), medium (< 0.50) and large (≥ 0.80) (Cohen, 1988). Pearson correlations were used to examine relationships among the studied variables (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, support, choice goals and intention to coach). The strength of relationships was interpreted as small (0.10–0.29), medium (0.30–0.49) and large (0.50–1) (Cohen, 1988). A multiple regression analysis was also applied to predict intention to coach based on self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, support and choice goals. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) and tolerance analyses were used to assess the multiple regression model’s goodness of fit and check for multicollinearity among the variables (Field, 2018). The significance level was set at ≤ 0.05. All statistical analyses were computed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software version 28.
Results
Table 1 shows the results for self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, support, choice goals and intention to coach, based on gender. The findings show that male athletes recorded significantly higher mean values for self-efficacy (t(198) = 2.36, p = 0.02), outcome expectations (t(198) = 2.72, p = 0.01), barriers (t(198) = 2.01, p = 0.05), choice goals (t(198) = 2.18, p = 0.03) and intention to coach (t(198) = 2.10, p = 0.04) than female athletes. However, it should be observed that all the effect sizes between male and female athletes were small in all the variables.
| TABLE 1: Self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, support, career goals and intention to coach between male and female athletes. |
Table 2 shows the bivariate correlations among the studied variables, including self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, support, choice goals and intention to coach. The results show that outcome expectations was strongly correlated with self-efficacy (r = 0.46, p < 0.01) and support (r = 0.39, p < 0.01). However, the relationship between outcome expectations and the two variables of self-efficacy and support was moderate.
| TABLE 2: Bivariate correlations among studied variables. |
A multiple regression analysis was performed to predict intention to coach based on self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, support and choice goals. Table 3 presents the results. As shown, for all the variables examined, the assumption of no multicollinearity was met (VIF values < 10 and Tolerance > 0.1). As a whole, these five factors significantly predicted the intention to coach (F(5, 195) = 3.004, p < 0.012, R2 = 0.072). However, only two factors were shown to be independently predictive: self-efficacy (β = -0.21, p < 0.01) and barriers (β = 0.19, p < 0.01).
| TABLE 3: Prediction of intention to coach based on self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, support and choice goals. |
Discussion
This study aimed to investigate the comparative interest of male and female athletes in entering the coaching profession. The findings support the extant literature on the SCCT and provide new insights for further studies on gender differences in coaching. Multiple regression analysis results showed that self-efficacy predicted an athlete’s intention to coach, regardless of gender. Individuals who possess a high level of self-efficacy are better able to cultivate career-sustaining behaviour, and they frequently maintain positive attitudes towards the challenges they face in their career development (Chan, 2013). However, the self-efficacy means for male athletes was significantly higher than for female athletes, which might be explained by the widespread prejudice against female coaches, even among athletes who have been exposed to female coaches. Instead, the ‘role model effect’ might be limited to situations in which an athlete has a high-quality relationship with a coach (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). In their study, Moran-Miller and Flores (2011) reported that athletes who had high quality relationships with their female coaches had higher coaching self-efficacy. Madsen and McGarry (2016) argued that being exposed to female coaches is not as important as being mentored. Female athletes are more likely to become coaches if they receive active mentoring from coaches, whether male or female.
While coaching increases self-efficacy, which is predictive of intention to coach, positive outcome expectations, according to SCCT, might also increase a person’s interest in a particular profession and their decision to pursue professional growth (Chan, 2020). In this study, male student-athletes recorded significantly higher means on outcome expectations than their female counterparts. Unexpectedly, however, they also identified considerably more barriers to becoming a coach. These findings appear to support Clopton and Sagas’ (2009) contention that potential coaching candidates are more disillusioned by low self-efficacy and outcome expectations than by perceived barriers. An individual will typically choose a particular activity (e.g., coaching) if they believe they are capable of it and their performance will yield worthwhile outcomes (Chan et al., 2016).
Regarding perceptions of social support for pursuing a career in coaching, the findings showed no significant differences between male and female student-athletes. This is a positive finding considering that previous research showed a lack of support programmes for South African female coaches (Kubayi et al., 2017b). The current result might point to a paradigm shift in the level of encouragement given to female athletes seeking coaching careers. At the same time, it is important to emphasise that the most persuasive sources and forms of support may lie in variables that this study did not address. According to SCCT, there are many personal and environmental factors that affect career choice, and these could not all be included in this study (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019). Previous studies (Cunningham et al., 2005; Wasend & LaVoi, 2019) have demonstrated that students’ interest in athletic occupations may not always translate into those careers if they do not receive outside support from coaches or other similar figures.
The findings showed significant differences between male and female athletes with respect to choice goals, with male athletes scoring higher on this item than female athletes. Male athletes also scored higher on intention to coach. These results corroborate those of a previous investigation in which female student-athletes stated that they had fewer intentions to pursue a coaching career (Kamphoff & Gill, 2008). It is possible that female athletes decide not to enter the coaching profession long before they feel the full force of the ‘glass ceiling’ (Clopton, 2015). This assumption would seem corroborated by the multiple regression results, which showed that intention to coach was predicted by perceived barriers. It follows that gender alone may not be the most significant factor influencing athletes’ intention to coach. Other factors including relationships with coaches, overall collegiate experience and attitudes towards sport may be more important. Female athletes who aspire to become coaches may be negatively influenced by the established network connections held by their coaches, with male coaches being more likely to be associated with robust, cohesive and strong professional networks (Wasend & LaVoi, 2019).
In this study, five factors – self-efficacy, outcome expectation, barriers, support and choice goals – accounted for 7% of the variance on athletes’ intention to coach, leaving 93% of the variance unexplained. This large percentage of unexplained variance could indicate that factors other than those investigated in this study have an impact on intention to coach. Therefore, it is recommended that future studies continue to investigate the social psychological processes that athletes undergo when making decisions about their coaching pathways, and that these processes be examined in the context of team environments. This will require the addition of variables addressing social identities (e.g., athlete, student and career identities). In sum, to improve understanding of why athletes choose to follow a coaching career, future studies are advised to include more variables in order to expand the context in which conclusions are made (Clopton, 2015).
Limitations and future research
While this study offers new insights into gender differences in athletes’ intention to pursue a coaching career, it is not without limitations. One limitation was the sample size. Because the study was restricted to a single South African region, the results cannot be broadly generalised to the whole population. Another limitation was the cross-sectional research approach, which relied on a questionnaire to analyse the relationship between the SCCT variables and investigate the role that gender plays in the athletes’ interest in becoming coaches. While a questionnaire can facilitate the collection of a great deal of participant data, it may be unable to capture in-depth information about athletes’ intention to pursue a coaching career. Future research should consider other qualitative research techniques, such focus groups and in-person interviews, to expand the scope and depth of the investigation and better understand the relationships between latent variables.
Conclusion
In this study, male athletes scored significantly higher than female athletes on self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, career goals and intention to coach. These results show that considerable efforts must be taken to close the gender gap in coaching roles. It is suggested that sports federations offer female athletes greater educational opportunities, such as workshops and seminars, in order to support their quest for ongoing development in coaching as a career goal. Equally important is including courses in coach education that are geared towards increasing positive outcome expectations and self-efficacy among female athletes to enhance their desire to pursue a coaching career.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all athletes who participated in this study.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
Authors’ contributions
R.M. and A.K. conceived and planned the study. R.M. collected the data and took the lead in writing the article. R.M. and A.K. contributed to the interpretation of the results. Both the authors provided critical feedback and helped to shape the research and analysis of the article.
Funding information
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available on reasonable request from the corresponding author, A.K.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and are the product of professional research. It does not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated institution, funder, agency or that of the publisher. The authors are responsible for this article’s results, findings and content.
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