Guidotti Flavia, Ciaccioni Simone, Demarie Sabrina, Colombo Piersanto, López De Subijana Cristina, Padua Elvira, Capranica Laura
Department of Human Sciences and Promotion of the Quality of Life, San Raffaele Roma Open University, Rome, Italy.
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.
Front Sports Act Living. 2025 May 6;7:1508147. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1508147. eCollection 2025.
The aim of the present study was to explore dual career experiences of elite women Italian football players in light of potential gender inequalities that might have affected their sporting and academic career paths.
A 25-items semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 22 elite Italian football players (age: 25.8 ± 4.3 years).
The mixed-method thematic analysis highlighted participants' difficulties in combining sport and education (e.g., lack of time, lack of dual career opportunities), reporting a higher support received from the sporting context (e.g., training absences and schedule adaptation) rather than from the educational institutions (e.g., lack of flexibility for class absences and for exams/evaluation schedule). Seven participants only benefited from the recognition of the "student-athlete status" and the formal access to a dual career program, mainly due to gender differences in the recognition of eligible competitive levels and past gender equality policies. Furthermore, the gender pay gap in professional football was perceived as a crucial factor in determining women's major interest in academics and educational achievements over their football performance development.
The present findings reflect previous literature in this field, with the football career perceived as unsecure and precarious, even more for women in such male-dominated industry, urging them to prioritize their education. Although the recent professional recognition was positively perceived, the present study highlighted the need for further research in this area. Furthermore, the translation of evidence-based information into further policy implementation towards gender mainstreaming and equal dual career paths in football should be envisioned.
本研究旨在探讨意大利精英女足运动员的双重职业经历，鉴于可能影响其体育和学术职业道路的潜在性别不平等现象。
对22名意大利精英足球运动员（年龄：25.8±4.3岁）进行了一项包含25个条目的半结构化问卷调查。
混合方法主题分析突出了参与者在兼顾体育和教育方面的困难（例如，时间不足、缺乏双重职业机会），报告显示体育环境给予了更多支持（例如，训练缺席和赛程调整），而非教育机构（例如，课堂缺席和考试/评估日程缺乏灵活性）。七名参与者仅受益于“学生运动员身份”的认可和正式进入双重职业项目，这主要归因于在认可合格竞技水平方面的性别差异以及过去的性别平等政策。此外，职业足球中的性别薪酬差距被视为决定女性对学术和教育成就的主要兴趣超过其足球表现发展的关键因素。
本研究结果反映了该领域先前的文献，足球生涯被视为不安全和不稳定的，在这个男性主导的行业中女性更是如此，这促使她们优先考虑自己的教育。尽管最近的职业认可得到了积极看待，但本研究强调了在这一领域进行进一步研究的必要性。此外，应设想将基于证据的信息转化为进一步的政策实施，以实现足球领域的性别主流化和平等双重职业道路。
