Participation in sport & physical activity can be facilitated or discouraged through the direct & indirect decisions & actions taken by parents & family members, coaches, educators, officials, leaders & peers. Decision makers in both the public & private sectors, communities (both in the sense of a geographic community & faith, interest or ethnicity based groups), & the media can affect the psycho-social & physical environments.

Of particular concern for women & girls are intrapersonal factors like perfectionism (being too self-critical), lack of assertiveness, & inhibition in promoting their accomplishments.

Other common impacts that hinder engagement & participation are misconceptions & the undervaluing of women’s sport skills & knowledge (including an unequal assumption of competence, for example where a male coach is assumed to be more competent than a female coach); negative stereotypes about women as leaders; a resistance to the style of women’s leadership; & continued wage discrepancies.