Work-Family Conflict in Sports Training from a Gender Perspective

Within the sports coaching context, the work-family conflict (WFC) remains as a central issue for individuals and organizations. The characteristics of the profession (demanding long and unorthodox schedules, high commitment and a results oriented culture) put coaches under many pressures. The aim of the present study was to examine the WFC among sport coaches from a gender perspective. In this study, a mixed method approach was used, combining questionnaires (n=1481) and interviews (n=15). The results showed that there were significant differences in the scale of double presence between coaches with and without a family structure, being higher the values in coaches with a family structure. There were significant differences in the scale of double presence between women coaches without children and women with children, while the difference between the scores of men with and without were of four points. Regarding the exposure to WFC that presents a health risk, the group of mother coaches is the one with the highest risk, followed by the group of father coaches. In addition, the voices of the participants also reflected that men and women coaches had different support mechanisms to balance family and work responsibilities. The present study points out the need to reconsider the organizational factors that impacts the WFC of coaches in order to facilitate the access, progression and retention in the profession for men, but especially for women as a key issue to promote effective equality in sports coaching..