Exploring the minority-majority gap in sport participation: different patterns for boys and girls?

• Published in: Sport in society Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. 606 - 624
• Main Authors: Strandbu, Åse, Bakken, Anders, Sletten, Mira Aaboen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 03-04-2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Boys; Children; Children & youth; Classism; Clubs; Discrimination; Girls; Majority groups; Minority groups; Participation; Racism; Religion; Socioeconomic factors; Sports; Sports participation; Youth
• ISSN: 1743-0437; 1743-0445
• DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2017.1389056

This paper examines the participation of minority and majority youth in organized sport based on the Young in Oslo 2015 survey (response rate: 72%, N = 9.774). Four possible explanations of the minority-majority gap are introduced: (i) culture, (ii) religion, (iii) discrimination/racism and (iv) class and socio-economic resources. Class and religion are further examined in the paper. Initially, among the boys, there are no differences between the minority and majority groups. When taking socio-economic resources into account, the minority boys have a slightly higher participation rate than the majority boys. Among the girls, the likelihood of participating in sport clubs is considerably lower for those with a minority background than for those with a majority background. The analyses show that socio-economic resources have an effect on both girls and boys and that religious denomination also explains, to some extent, the minority-majority gap that exists among girls.