A new study will explore the experiences of international and domestic female faculty members in Physical Education Teacher Education.
CPASS has launched a study unique to the College, one that will take a deep dive into the real-world experiences of female faculty who work in the field of physical education teacher education and who hail from Japan and the US. “We decided to focus on this field because sports and exercise are the places where gender stereotypes, such as masculinity and femininity, are still pervasive, and physical education teachers have enormous power to impact children and adolescents relative to gender equity,” says Emi Tsuda, assistant professor of physical education teacher education and one of the leaders of the study.
The team also includes James Wyant, assistant professor, and Ogiwara Tomoko, former CPASS visiting scholar (March 2020), and the study itself is titled Gender Equity in Higher Education: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Japan and the U.S. - Female Faculty Members' Experiences in Physical Education Teacher Education. It will offer insight through a cross-cultural comparison of Japan and the US which, according to Emi, have significantly different status relative to gender equity. “Another uniqueness is the collaboration between Japanese and US scholars who have diverse back grounds to execute the study, which addresses a complex issue,” she says.
This study, funded by K. Matsushita Foundation in Japan (part of Panasonic), has the potential to truly impact the field for future generations and have far-reaching implications for physical education teachers and the students they work with. Physical education teachers have enormous power to impact children and adolescents relative to gender equity and their participation in sports, physical activity and exercise. That’s why this study is so important, Emi says. Providing proper education to future teachers is critical. And female physical education teacher educators at universities worldwide will play a key role in promoting gender equity.
“It is one of the human rights,” Emi says. Gender equity in higher education is especially important because higher education holds an essential role in shaping the future of the society, where people can establish values beyond the private benefits that are specific to individual citizens.