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Open research questions in Sports, Gender, and Society

924 gap statements mined from Sports, Gender, and Society papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 9,853 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • There is a gap in understanding how varying degrees of sports involvement influence college students' perceptions and experiences. The existing literature does not adequately differentiate between the effects on self-esteem and self-efficacy among students who participate in sports regularly versus those who engage occasionally.

    Beyond the Game: The Influence of Varying Degrees of Sports Involvement on College Students’ Self-Perceptions and Institutional Affiliation · 2024 · DOI

  • Researchers have explored different dimensions of fan violence and several aspects of violence in youth sports, but fan violence in youth football remains understudied.

    Fan violence in youth football: Experiences and attitudes of young players · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should investigate the experiences and roles of marginalised groups in SW, particularly women, to deepen our understanding of inclusivity in evolving constructions of masculinities.

    Redefining masculinities through street workout: Dynamics of hybridity and aesthetic capital · 2025 · DOI

  • Yet little is known about who women's sport fans are, nor which sports are most popular.

    Following, watching, and attending: Fandom of women's sport in the UK and USA · 2025 · DOI

  • Nevertheless, little is known about women working within the culture of professional football clubs, the impact on their career experiences, and crucially, within the context of women's sport.

    Understanding the Impact of Professional Football Club Cultural Climates on the Experiences of Women Working in Football · 2025 · DOI

  • Scholarship on sports following represents a burgeoning field of inquiry in the sociology of sport, yet sport following's connections to, or ability to facilitate, social capital remains underexplored.

    Sports following and social capital in the United States: Social networks and trust · 2024 · DOI

  • However, no studies have investigated barriers to sports participation among girls from low SES neighbourhoods.

    77 How do we include low SES girls in sport? A qualitative study on girls’ perceived barriers to sports participation · 2024 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on strengthening these relationships to optimize training in collegiate settings.

    Collegiate Male Athlete Attitudes Toward Male and Female Strength and Conditioning Coaches · 2024 · DOI

  • This discursive approach towards nationalism (see Fox and Miller‐Idriss (2008)) of imagined sporting communities suggests that mere international competitiveness is insufficient grounds for nationalistic expression to emerge as a dominant discursive theme.

    Sports and nationalism: When imagined communities become national · 2024 · DOI

  • Despite the extensive recruiting efforts for this study, numerous sports and countries remain unexplored.

    Shining a light on the unseen athletes: stories of exclusion and resistance among gay athletes in professional team sports · 2024 · DOI

  • This study aims to explore the relationship between social class and sports following in the United States, addressing a gap in research that has largely overlooked spectator sports in sociocultural analyses.

    Socioeconomic position and sports in the US today: the economic and cultural capital of sports followers · 2024 · DOI

  • This paper addresses a critical gap in research on LGBT + inclusion in dancesport.

    Queer dancers’ experiences in the dancesport world: exclusion, invisibilisation and assimilation · 2024 · 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

  • There is a lack of studies on the representation of female ecuavóley players in digital media. There is a need to analyze the impact of digital media on the visibility of women in sports.

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

  • The findings demonstrated that loyalty was primarily anchored in community and belongingness, training readiness, event challenge satisfaction, operational and safety quality, and coaching support, reflecting the embodied, experiential, and pedagogical dimensions of high-intensity functional fitness participation.

    Participation Loyalty in Hyrox: The Primacy of Sport Experience and the Effects of Marketing Support · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should examine the impact of different policy approaches on the participation and experiences of transgender athletes. Future research should investigate the ways in which media representation and social narratives shape public attitudes and perceptions of transgender athletes.

    Governing transgender athletes in global sport: fairness, evidence, media representation, and lived experience · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature on the participation of transgender athletes in competitive sport, highlighting the need for a more nuanced and inclusive approach to sport governance. The paper notes that existing discussions often emphasize either gender self-identification, dignity, and equal participation, or the question of fairness in competitive classification.

    Governing transgender athletes in global sport: fairness, evidence, media representation, and lived experience · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to understand the emergence of a shared European fan identity in football. Prior research has not fully explored the relationship between demographic, attitudinal, and football-related factors and identification with European fan communities.

    Belonging to a community of European fans? European common in-group identity formation through football fandom · 2026 · DOI

  • As relatively recent country of immigration, Spain has not yet established a common national integration model (Cebolla Boado & González Ferrer, 2013).

    Social Cohesion Reduced to Social Ties? Sport, Leisure, and the Limits of Migrant Inclusion in Spain · 2026 · DOI

  • Technical explanations of athletic performance remain inadequate to encompass the intense emotions and profound psychological transformations experienced by players, coaches, and spectators during major competitions. The study identifies a gap in understanding the psychological and emotional dynamics of athletic competition.

    Unconscious Dynamics and Collective Symbolism in Elite Football: A Psycho-Hermeneutic Analysis of Victory and Defeat in the Algerian National Team at the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 · 2026 · DOI

  • Prior work has studied language and national identity in sports, but not in the context of social media reactions.

    Panalo Nating Lahat [This is a Victory for us All]: Uncovering Constructs of Language and Nationalism in Social Media Reactions to Alex Eala’s Post-US Open Juniors Championship Interview · 2026 · DOI

  • Research concerning masculinities and homosexuality reveals contradictory findings, with inclusive masculinity theorists uniquely declaring the declining significance of homophobia in sports.

    ‘The times they are a changing’: Negotiating diverse sexualities and masculinities in male rugby union · 2025 · DOI

  • These findings spotlight the domain of sports following as fertile ground for further investigation into its capacity to serve as a unique facilitator of social capital on the increasingly divided American socio-cultural landscape.

    Sports following and social capital in the United States: Social networks and trust · 2024 · DOI

  • The study recommends the following: 1. Full implementation of NPFL divestment policies to encourage private participation 2. Tax incentives for investors in sports infrastructure. Improved broadcasting agreements to increase league revenue. Stronger corporate governance standards for clubs. Enhanced transparency and accountability within football administration.

    Growing Investments and Ownership Structure of Private Clubs in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL): An Emerging Perspective · 2026 · DOI

  • By Nwaiwu Nnochiri PhD1; Okoroafor Uzochukwu PhD2; Nwakamma Jude PhD3; Emeghara Kenneth PhD4 Department of Human Kinetics, Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri Tel: +234 8060180363 Email…

    Growing Investments and Ownership Structure of Private Clubs in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL): An Emerging Perspective · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Sports, Gender, and Society

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Researchers have explored different dimensions of fan violence and several aspects of violence in youth sports, but fan violence in youth football remains understudied (“Fan violence in youth football: Experiences and attitudes of young players”, 2026); (2) There is a lack of studies on the representation of female ecuavóley players in digital media (“Irrupción femenina y narrativas digitales en el periodismo deportivo…”, 2026); (3) Future research should examine the impact of different policy approaches on the participation and experiences of transgender athletes (“Governing transgender athletes in global sport: fairness, evidence, media…”, 2026); (4) There is a need to understand the emergence of a shared European fan identity in football (“Belonging to a community of European fans? European common in-group identity…”, 2026); (5) As relatively recent country of immigration, Spain has not yet established a common national integration model (Cebolla Boado & González Ferrer, 2013) (“Social Cohesion Reduced to Social Ties? Sport, Leisure, and the Limits of…”, 2026). 924 gap statements have been mined from Sports, Gender, and Society papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 9,853 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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