A Study On Socio- Cultural Barriers of Women's Participation in Sports Case study: 20-40 year-old female athletes and non-athletes in Hamedan province

In today's world, women's participation in social activities is considered as a measure of their social and civil rights. However, there are challenges to such participation. This research aims to investigate these socio-cultural obstacles, comparing athletic and non-athletic women. The present study examines women's sports participation as a form of behavior which includes Fishbein and Ajzen theories, social learning theory, cultural capital, Bem's feministic theories, Chaftez theory and also Chu's theory, through survey and data gathering technique of questionnaire. A t-test was run for independent samples along with logistic regression proportional to research theories to compare the two groups. 200 non-athletic and 50 athletic women were selected a statistical society of 106404 women aged 20 to 40 residing in Hamedan Province. The results show that athletic women enjoy a greater economic, social and cultural status and a more comprehensive social protection. Moreover, the families of athletic women have more positive attitude towards life than non-athletes. Accordingly, athletic women demonstrate a significantly lower acceptance rate for cliché beliefs in comparison to non – athletic women. However, the results also reveal that in terms of perceived usefulness, there is no significant difference between these two groups. Generally, cultural capital and individual inclination are two influential variables in the probability of women participating in sports