Metaphorical Perception of Sports Management Students on “Women in Sport” Concept

The purpose of this study was to analyze the perceptions of sports management students in Turkey regarding “women in sport” through metaphorical images. The study group of the research was composed of undergraduate students of Sports Management Department in 2018-2019 academic year. There were fortyfour percent (44%) of these students were female and fiftysix percent (56%) of them were male, which indicated a total of 126 students. Phenomenology approach which is one of the qualitative research methods has been used. The students who participated in the study were selected on voluntary basis and with easily accessible sampling method. Participant opinions were analyzed by using content analysis method. The data of research was derived from the structured forms which included the sentence “Women in sport is like ……., because…..”. Findings were showned that female students have produced 31 and male students have produced 52 valid metaphors related to the concept of women in sport. These metaphors were categorized under 6 distinct categories according to their common charecteristics. Female and male students` selecting metaphors was represented themes. According to findings, the theme of “women in sport as a leader” shows similarity in female and male students. In the theme of indivicual empoverment, female students used the concepts of sun, star, plane, female lion but male students stated that the metaphors of earth, gun, tank and warrior. The theme of universal values and contribution to social development in male students was explained as the reasons for selecting the metaphors of “indicator of civilization”, “scale of the nation”, “symbol of the equality”. In conclusion, women’s empoverment through sport was the key element in this study. Women stand to gain specific social benefits from participating in sport. Parents, institutions and government should support and encourage women in all stage of the sports.