Research note
Courses on Gender and Women in Teacher Training Programs
Junior High School Health and Physical Education Teacher Training Programs
2025 Volume 23 Pages 60-69
Details
2025 Volume 23 Pages 60-69
This study examined the status of gender-related courses within departments that offer teaching licenses for health and physical education. A total of 229 departments were included in the research. The syllabi for the 2023 academic year were analyzed to assess the implementation of courses titled gender or women as well as lessons that included terms such as gender or women in their titles. The trends in these course titles were also examined. The findings are summarized as follows.
•Among all the courses, 98 departments (42.8%) offered courses with names including gender or women, and 40 courses (17.5%) that addressed content related to sports, the body or health.
•Among all the courses, 209 departments (91.3%) offered courses with names that included gender or women.
•Among the physical education and sports-related courses, 176 departments (76.9%) had courses that included gender or women in the course names, which was lower than the percentage of all the courses offered. Gender alone in the course name accounted for 57.7%, and women alone 65.5%, indicating a higher proportion of courses with women in the course name.
•Differences were observed among the courses with titles that included gender or women. The term gender was more frequently used in the humanities and social sciences, while women appeared more commonly in the natural sciences.
•In categorizing the titles of physical education and sports-related courses that included gender or women, courses with gender focused on social and cultural perspectives, while those with women emphasized topics such as training, coaching, health and disability, and exercise methods.
The results of this study suggest that the current implementation of gender-related subjects in specialized courses is inadequate. It is essential to establish more comprehensive gender-related courses within specialized fields in the future, particularly as part of the education for students who are likely to work in schools or sports settings.
