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Open research questions in Sports, Gender, and Society

940 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 9,195 Sports, Gender, and Society papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • The lack of understanding of the causal relationship between trans attitudes, fairness concerns, and policy views. The need for a theoretical framework that accounts for the difference in predictive relationships between attitudes and policy views across different sports. The gap in current research on the role of fair play concerns in shaping policy views.

    To each their Sport: Support for Trans Inclusion and Fair Play Concerns · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies the challenge of maintaining decentralized enforcement mechanisms in the face of formal rule changes. It highlights the difficulty of monitoring and enforcing informal norms in a complex and dynamic environment like NASCAR. The paper also notes the challenge of balancing the need for safety and sportsmanship with the competitive pressures of professional racing.

    When rubbin’ becomes wreckin’: the death of the driver code in NASCAR · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the literature on self-governance, particularly in the context of close-knit groups and decentralized enforcement mechanisms. It highlights the need to examine how formal rule changes can impact informal governance systems, leading to the decline of once-effective norms.

    When rubbin’ becomes wreckin’: the death of the driver code in NASCAR · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies the challenge of understanding the discursive continuity of Black cultural expression in sport. It notes the difficulty of tracing the shared language, messaging, and experience of Black cultural expression across time, space, and context. The paper acknowledges the need to move beyond surface-level explorations of hip-hop and Black cultural expression in sport.

    Da art of storytellin': hip-hop epistemology, hip-hop theorization, and the discursive continuity of black cultural expression in/through sport · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of exploration of Black cultural expression through the lens of discursive continuity is a significant gap in existing research. Existing frameworks have been developed to outline relationships between Black cultural forms and lived experience, but hip-hop has not been fully utilized. The paper identifies the need for a framework that can trace the shared language, messaging, and experience of Black cultural expression in sport.

    Da art of storytellin': hip-hop epistemology, hip-hop theorization, and the discursive continuity of black cultural expression in/through sport · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the representation of Black women in sport, with insufficient attention to their experiences and perspectives. The authors note a lack of capture of joy, being, and everyday life in existing research, which tends to focus on exclusion and harm. The paper addresses the gap by highlighting the importance of Black women's sport stories and imagery in critical conversations about identity, care, and wellbeing.

    Refusals and rituals in sport: photo-elicitation of global Black girls’ and women's joy and care · 2026 · DOI

  • investigating the effectiveness of measures to improve gender equality in sports journalism, - examining the experiences of women journalists in other countries, - analyzing the impact of social media on women's participation in sports journalism

    Female voices in Spanish sports media: The case of Marca and Mundo Deportivo · 2025 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the roles and experiences of female journalists in the Spanish sports press. The research highlights the need for measures to promote gender equality in the sports press.

    Female voices in Spanish sports media: The case of Marca and Mundo Deportivo · 2025 · DOI

  • Although sport federations have implemented various prevention programmes to address these challenges, the specific conditions under which voluntary sports clubs choose to actively engage in such efforts remain insufficiently understood.

    Initiating extremism prevention in German voluntary sports clubs: Conditions for the emergence of club engagement · 2026 · DOI

  • However, a gap in the literature exists when it comes to understanding how employees in intercollegiate athletics departments transition into DEI-specific roles.

    “Every Day, It’s Highs and Lows”: A Longitudinal Qualitative Examination of Transitioning into a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategist Role in U.S. Intercollegiate Athletics · 2026 · DOI

  • Although the structural inequities that women coaches face are well-documented, the lived experience of an abrupt career-defining moment, such as a forced exit, remains underexplored.

    In the Line of Fire: Examining the Lasting Impacts of Unforeseen Career-Defining Moments for Women College Head Coaches · 2026 · DOI

  • Results revealed that athletes held limited knowledge of employment, often depending on informal resources outside of their athletic departments, highlighting uneven access to information within a system in which athletes are central stakeholders yet remain peripheral to decision-making processes.

    “I Didn’t Even Know This Was a Thing”: College Athletes’ Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Potential Employee Status · 2026 · DOI

  • However, the mechanisms through which sport experiences generate broader social well-being remain insufficiently understood, particularly when quantitative and qualitative perspectives are examined in isolation.

    Beyond Spectatorship: A Macro–Meso–Micro Framework for Understanding Social Well-being through Rugby Spectatorship · 2026 · DOI

  • Introduction Despite the rapid expansion of the e-sports industry in terms of economic scale, tournament systems, and professional demand, the issues of identity transformation, bodily discipline, emotional management, and their associated alienation during the professionalization of e-sports athletes remain insufficiently discussed.

    From play to profession: understanding the professionalization of e-sports athletes from a civilizing process perspective · 2026 · DOI

  • The importance of endorser–product fit in sports sponsorship is well established; yet, knowledge on how athletes establish a sense of fit when pursuing sponsorships is lacking, although fit is critical for successful outcomes.

    “You Are the Brand”: Examining the Experience of Person–Environment Fit in National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletes’ Pursuit of Name, Image, and Likeness Sponsorship · 2025 · DOI

  • This research offers critical insights into a previously understudied population by centering on the agency and aspirations of these athletes, alongside the structural barriers they confront in their pursuit of athletic and educational opportunities abroad.

    Unequal Road: Agency, Aspiration, and Migration in the Sporting Journeys of Ghanaian Female Athletes · 2025 · DOI

  • The aim of this article is to address this gap in the literature by focusing on their motivation for involvement in football at this level and the important function that they perform.

    Patrons in German lower league football: a qualitative case study · 2025 · DOI

  • Club patrons in German lower-league football are a largely under-researched social phenomenon.

    Patrons in German lower league football: a qualitative case study · 2025 · DOI

  • Global football fandom is shifting from club-centric to athlete-centric loyalty, but empirical evidence from emerging markets is sparse.

    Rebalancing loyalties: athlete branding and digital engagement across generations in Indonesia’s football fans · 2025 · DOI

  • However, the pace and scale of the professionalization of the women’s game and the concomitant internationalization of playing rosters over the last decade warrants further research.

    Sport as migrant work: transnational athletic migration and belonging in English professional women's football · 2025 · DOI

  • George H. Sage a a Department of Kinesiology , University of Northern Colorado , Greeley , CO , 80639 Published online: 19 Mar 2012. To cite this article: George H. Sage (1987) Pursuit of Knowledge in Sociology of Sport: Issues and Prospects, Quest, 39:3, 255-281, DOI: 10.1080/00336297.1987.10483879 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00336297.1987.10483879 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions Downloaded by [New York University] at 09:38 20 April 2015 QUEST, 1987, 39, 255-281 owledge

    Pursuit of Knowledge in Sociology of Sport: Issues and Prospects · 1987 · DOI

  • But us size and substantive content will remain unknown until at least the certainly changeable as- pects of the sexual diviston of labor are altered.

    Sport and women's empowerment · 1987 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the development of other sports in similar contexts. The study's findings could be applied to the development of sports policies and programs that promote gender equality.

    From feminine leisure to urban craze: the popularization of badminton in Republican Shanghai · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in our understanding of how badminton developed in Republican Shanghai. The research highlights the need to consider the gendered development of sports in their social and institutional context.

    From feminine leisure to urban craze: the popularization of badminton in Republican Shanghai · 2026 · DOI

  • The study has limited information about the players. The videos do not follow a standard production format. The algorithmic functioning of YouTube may introduce biases in the sample.

    Irrupción femenina y narrativas digitales en el periodismo deportivo alternativo: el caso del ecuavóley · 2026 · DOI

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940 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 9,195 Sports, Gender, and Society papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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