Women & girls who are able to excel do so despite the barriers, through a combination of conditions that allow them to cope & overcome. These include supportive family & community structures, positive encouragement & feedback, dedicated educators & coaches, the presence of role models, & personal drive & motivation.

A social-ecological model (below) can help improve understanding of the complex & multidimensional factors that facilitate & constrain women’s & girls’ sport & physical activity decisions & behaviour.

Intrapersonal factors reflect characteristics within the individual.

Interpersonal factors relate to formal & informal social networks. In particular, the “challenge of competition” is a significant factor in that some women & girls tend to place a lot of importance on relationships & perceive that competition jeopardizes relationships — someone can be hurt emotionally (through defeat, poor performance, not being selected, etc.) or physically (a ball in the face, pushed, shoved, etc.).

Environmental factors exist within & between organizations, social institutions & groups.

Policy-related factors relate to local-, provincial-, & federal-level policies, guidelines, regulations & laws that regulate or support actions & practices in sport, physical activity, physical education, etc. Creating environments through policy development, implementation, analysis & advocacy impacts whether programs are attractive to women & girls (e.g., in activity, promotional language & images), if barriers are addressed (e.g., access to facilities, scheduling difficulties), & how to ensure equitable allocation of resources (whether referring to budgets, equipment, human resources, or media attention, etc.). Organizations & institutions that may affect the social & physical environments (through their decisions, policies, programming) include international, national, provincial/territorial & community governments & sport governing organizations, community groups, urban planners, facility planners & owners, ethnic & religious communities, health promotion organizations, education organizations, & workplaces.