Women’s Experiences In Sport Research Hub

Lead: Dr Helen Owton

Members: Dr Helen Clegg, Steph Doehler, Dr Caroline Heaney, Dr Jo Horne, Dr Nichola Kentzer,  Dr Candice Lingam-Willgoss, Tanya Martin, Dr Jess Pinchbeck, Lorna Stevens, Dr Jitka Vseteckova, Professor Emeritus Kath Woodward

We are a subgroup of researchers at The Open University dedicated to focusing research on Women in Sport. Our work focuses on understanding women’s lived experiences in sport and addressing gender inequalities across sporting contexts. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives, we aim to generate impactful, inclusive research that informs policy, supports best practice, and amplifies the voices and experiences of women and girls in sport.

Research areas of interest span a wide range of themes including:

  • Women’s embodied lived experiences in sports
  • Women’s sporting performances
  • Women’s sporting fans’ experiences
  • Families behind the athlete

PUBLICATIONS:

  • Woodward, Jack and Woodward, Kath (2026). ‘Girls show boys the way’: insights into the growth of women’s game. Soccer & Society (Early access).
  • Horne, Joanna; Kentzer, Nichola; Smith, Lee; Trott, Mike and Vseteckova, Jitka (2025). A systematic review of international literature on the gender of unpaid carers attending group-based physical activity with people with dementia. International Journal of Care and Caring, 9(2) pp. 316–340.
  • Owton, Helen (2025). Intense embodiment and women’s ‘weather work’ in motorcycling. Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 25(4) pp. 256–265.
  • Doehler, Steph (2024). ‘Your Analysis Is as Useless as Your Ovaries’: Women Football Fans’ Experiences on Social Media. Communication & Sport (Early access).
  • Woodward, Kath (2024). [Editorial]: Insights into gender, sex, and sexualities: 2022. Frontiers in Sociology, 9, article no. 1378891.
  • Lingam-Willgoss, Candice (2023). Negotiating Identity: how elite athlete mothers navigate their journey through sport. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis The Open University.
  • Doehler, Steph (2023). Levelling the field? The English Football Association’s promotion of their men’s and women’s national teams through Twitter. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 58(7) pp. 1114–1134
  • Owton, Helen (2022). Quest for Freedom: Intense Embodied Experiences of Motorcycling. Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 22(2) pp. 154–162
  • Pinchbeck, Jessica (2022). The Family Behind the Athlete. In: Heaney, Caroline; Kentzer, Nichola; and Oakley, Ben eds. Athletic Development: A Psychological Perspective. New York: Routledge, pp. 141–162.
  • Owton, Helen (2022). “Oh Shit!” Moments: Motorcycling, “Thrownness,” and the Startle Effect. Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 22(5) pp. 513–519.
  • Pinchbeck, Jessica (2021). “It’s more than just playing a sport”. A socio-cultural analysis of participation in netball across the lifespan. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis The Open University
  • Clegg, Helen; Owton, Helen and Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn (2019). Attracting and Retaining Boys in Ballet: A Qualitative Study of Female Dance Teachers. Journal of Dance Education, 19(4) pp. 158–167
  • Woodward, Kath (2019). The gendering of defining moments: heroic narratives and pivotal points in footballing memories. Soccer and Society, 20(7-8) pp. 1108–1117.
  • Lingam-Willgoss, Candice (2018). Maintaining positive mental health throughout sporting transitions: A case study of elite sporting females. In: Competing in the Dark – Mental Health in Sport, 21 Mar 2018, Open University, Milton Keynes.
  • Clegg, Helen; Owton, Helen and Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn (2018). Challenging conceptions of gender: UK dance teachers’ perceptions of boys and girls in the ballet studio. Research in Dance Education, 19(2) pp. 128–139
  • Owton, Helen and Sparkes, Andrew C. (2017). Sexual abuse and the grooming process in sport: Bella’s story. Sport, Education and Society, 22(6) pp. 732–743
  • Woodward, Kath (2017). Women’s time? Time and temporality in women’s football. Sport in Society, 20(5-6) pp. 689–700.
  • Owton, Helen and Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn (2017). ‘It stays with you’: multiple evocative representations of dance and future possibilities for studies in sport and physical cultures. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 9(1) pp. 49–55.
  • Clegg, Helen; Owton, Helen and Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn (2016). The cool stuff!: Gender, dance and masculinity. Psychology of Women Section Review, 18(2) pp. 6–16
  • Owton, Helen; Clegg, Helen and Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn (2016). “I wanted to be Darcey Bussell”: Motivations and expectations of female dance teachers. Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin, 22 pp. 55–64
  • Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn and Owton, Helen (2015). Intense embodiment: senses of heat in women’s running and boxing. Body & Society, 21(2) pp. 245–268
  • Woodward, Kath (2014). Legacies of 2012: putting women’s boxing into discourse.Contemporary Social Science: Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences, 9(2) pp. 242–252.
  • Batey, Jo and Owton, Helen (2014). Team mums: team sport experiences of athletic mothers. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 22(1) pp. 30–36

BOOKS/CHAPTERS

  • Owton, Helen and Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn (2017). Athlete Domestic Violence: contaminating acts and the violation of self-boundaries. In: Milner, Adrienne and Braddock, II, J.H. eds. Women in Sports: Breaking Barriers, Facing Obstacles. ABC-CLIO, pp. 185–202

  • Owton, Helen (2015). Reinventing the body-self: intense, gendered and heightened sensorial experiences of women’s boxing embodiment. In: Channon, Alexander and Matthews, Christopher R. eds. Global Perspectives on Women in Combat Sport: Women Warriors around the world. Global Culture and Sport Series. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 221–236.

  • Woodward, Kath (2015). The Politics of In/visibility: Being There. Genders and Sexualities in the Social Sciences. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.


OU TEACHING MATERIALS

  • E314 Study Topic 2: Inequalities in sport
  • E315 Study Topic 3: Gender inequalities

OPENLEARN WOMEN IN SPORT HUB

  • Sporting women in the media

  • Supporting female performance in sport and fitness

  • Talking about the menopause: symptoms, support and the role of exercise

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT & IMPACT

Includes writing and appearances for The Conversation, The Independent,  The Telegraph, BBC consultancy, Sky News.