Half of the world’s population is female, and more girls and women are participating in sport and exercise than at any time in history. Yet, sport and exercise science research in the context of health and performance has largely been, and to some extent still is, conducted predominantly in male populations. As a result, there remain many knowledge gaps in our understanding of sport, exercise and health in the female population. The Women in Sport and Exercise Research (WiSER) consortium is a recently-established all-island group of academic researchers focussed on addressing key research questions concerning health and performance in the context of participation in sport and exercise across the life course i.e. as they pertain to childhood and adolescence, menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception, fertility and pregnancy, and peri- and post-menopause. This event will be the first national conference of the WiSER consortium uniting researchers, policy makers, practitioners, industry, and the public.
Attendees will hear from world-leading and national experts, alongside early career researchers presenting their latest research across disciplines such as physiology and nutrition, coaching and athletic development, psychology and social sciences, sport and exercise medicine, and health promotion. Industry stakeholders and members of the public will speak about the lived experience of working with and being impacted by the policy and practical applications (or lack thereof) of this area of research.
Event outcomes will include a formal commitment towards collegial, cross-institution research on women in sport, exercise and health research across the island, while also establishing a position for Ireland in European and international research in this domain. Importantly the event will foster demonstrable, regular engagement between researchers and industry, policy and practice through the development and dissemination of a public-facing position statement describing research directions on women in sport and exercise.