Invisible and Undervalued: A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis of Women Coaches’ Emotional Labor

Abstract

Sport organizations heavily depend on traditionally feminine-typed work, such as emotional labor, yet systemic inequalities within these institutions often render such work invisible. Therefore, we conducted semistructured interviews with nine women head coaches at Canadian universities to explore how their construction of emotional labor, at the discursive level, (re)produces and/or challenges broader structures and gendered ideologies in intercollegiate sport organizations. The responses were analyzed sequentially through thematic analysis followed by feminist critical discourse analysis, outlining how women coaches’ discourses of care and of performance in sport render emotional labor, essential yet undervalued, and invisible within organizational structures. While institutions rely on coaches’ emotional labor, coaches received limited reciprocal support and recognition for this work. Findings explicate the gendered power dynamics that render emotional labor invisible within sport institutions while illuminating the difficulties women coaches face. Recommendations for enhancing institutional recognition and support for coaches are provided.