Women in sport: New report shows gender 'dream deficit' among girls hoping to compete in elite sport | Watch Sky Sports

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Sky Sports News' Anton Toloui and Gail Davis look back on England's 1-0 World Cup final defeat to Spain earlier this summer

Sky Sports News' Anton Toloui and Gail Davis look back on England's 1-0 World Cup final defeat to Spain earlier this summer

Less than a third of girls dream of reaching the top of sport, compared to more than half of boys, according to a new report from the charity Women in Sport.

The charity has spent the last three years researching how the increased visibility of elite women's sport has inspired girls, and the report has revealed the gender “dream deficit”: only 29 percent dream of reaching the top of the sport, compared to 52 percent Boys.

Despite inspiring performances from the Lionesses in football and the Vitality Roses in netball this summer, the latest data shows the number of girls wanting to play elite sport has fallen by two per cent compared to the same period last year.

“Daring to Dream – The Gender Dream Deficit in Sport” found that the success of women's sport on the world stage has helped raise the hopes of a generation of girls who love and already participate in sport, with 86 percent of girls taking part participate in the category that believes they can be like lionesses.

Although the visibility of elite female athletes is increasing, 82 percent still believe that women's sports are not taken as seriously as men's sports. Gender stereotyping also continues to have a negative impact: 35 percent of girls believe they are not expected to be good at sports, compared to just four percent of boys.

Stephanie Hilborne, CEO of Women in Sport, said: “As children we are all asked what we want to be when we grow up. Most boys aspire to be a successful footballer, but generations of little girls have been denied this classic dream.”

“Women’s team sport has never been on TV or seen as glamorous, but now that is changing, supported by the heroic efforts of some great athletes.”

“There has been a lot of progress in women's sport and the right visibility is vital to this, but unfortunately, as with women in other high-profile fields, misogyny casts a shadow and makes the prospects of success less attractive. It makes girls and women wonder if they are truly welcome in the world of sports, if they belong and if they really want to be in it.

The public display of misogyny witnessed after Spain's victory at the 2023 World Cup also played a big role in how girls feel about the treatment of female athletes: 72 percent said the “questionable kiss” opened their eyes to how women are treated in sport.

“We are committed to challenging negative narratives about women in sport, tackling misogyny through policy change and working to change stereotypes so that all girls in sport feel like they belong – and boys make them feel welcome Hilborne added. “We are unprepared to watch misogyny and gender stereotypes stifle girls’ dreams.”

What improvements could be made?

When asked what they think the future of sport should look like, six in ten girls want equal coverage of women's and men's sport and more than half of girls believe that women's achievements in sport deserve more recognition .

Girls also said a greater diversity of female athletes would encourage them to become more involved in sports, while 46 percent wanted more opportunities to try different sports from a young age and more opportunities to join clubs and teams outside the world the school.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said of the research: “We want as many women and girls as possible to take up sport and physical activity to reap all the positive benefits it has on life that brings people with it.”

“The government is taking action to improve equal access through unprecedented investment in basic facilities. Over 2,200 projects have already been implemented across the UK.

“In addition, we have set up the £30m Lionesses Futures Fund to create 30 new state-of-the-art playing fields, in addition to the commitment and funding to enable equal access to sport in schools.”

“We know there is more to do, so our National Physical Activity Taskforce is looking at how we can encourage more people to get active to meet our goal of 3.5 million more people by 2030, including 1, 25 million women to get active.”