Women and concussion in football
Eligibility: UK/International (including EU) graduates with the required entry requirements
Duration: Full-time – between three and three and a half years fixed term
Application deadline: 15 Jan 2025
Interview date: Will be confirmed to shortlisted candidates
Start date: May 2025
For further details contact: Sam Oxford.
Introduction
This funded PhD position is housed within the Centre for Physical Activity, Sport and Exercise Sciences (PASES) at Coventry University and is in association with the Women’s Professional Leagues Ltd (WPLL).
The PhD will form part of ongoing work WPLL is undertaking within the area of female specific research in professional football and the successful candidate will contribute to activities in the area. The PhD will also support the growing work on the assessment and management of the cervical spine that PASES undertakes as part of the interdisciplinary scientific research through the application of physical activity, sport and exercise to improve health and performance across the life course.
Football is the world’s most popular sport with the highest growth rate in women and girls. While there are a multitude of benefits associated with participation in team sports, there is growing public concern and research scrutiny around the short-term or acute effects of head impacts (leading to diagnosable injuries such as concussion) as well as the long-term effects from repeated ball-head impacts associated with heading (which are much more challenging to measure, and monitor given the significant time delay in the associated signs and symptoms).
For example, women are 50% more likely to suffer a concussion playing football,1 report more symptoms and may take longer to recover than men. While the mechanism of concussion in both men and women footballers is more likely from player-to-player contact when two or more players are competing for an aerial ball, women appear more likely to be injured by the ball itself. It would be easy to attribute these differences solely to biological factors such as hormones, or brain tissue response. While research in the role of biology is valid, these factors are largely non-modifiable.
A more holistic approach is to also consider the modifiable risk factors which pertain to the environment in which women and girls learn and develop their footballing skills. For example, differences in exposure, strength and technical training styles or deliberate football practice which result in lower competence and confidence might explain why women and girls are more likely to close their eyes during heading and be more passive in their heading technique. Passive heading (including factors related to the engagement of the neck musculature) and eye closing may have direct correlations to increased concussions from heading. Players who close their eyes long before the ball-head impact are less prepared to anticipate ball contact and less aware of the players around them to protect themselves from an opponent’s elbow or head.
To mitigate short- and long-term football-related head and neck injury risk, more substantive qualitative and quantitative research centred around women and girls’ experiences, exposures and profiles need to be completed. For instance, comparing coaching styles and performance training between men and women as well as specific research in women and girls across a range of age groups and skill-development stages.
To date, over 80% of sports-related concussion research has been completed in male athletes (40% of studies included within concussion consensus and position papers containing no female participants). These research findings are often directly applied to female athletes, with any observed differences blindly attributed to sex differences (nature), without considering the wider societal, situational and environmental effects (nurture).
Project details
The overall purpose of this PhD is to explore technical skills of women and girls when performing headers and competing in aerial duels during real time match play and practice session as well as investigating the mechanism of acute head injuries in women’s football. To achieve this, this PhD will aim to:
- Determine the biological profile of female football players across a range of age and skill levels including maximal isometric neck strength and rate of force development, ball tracking, anticipatory timing, jump height and body positioning.
- Explore the barriers and facilitators for women and girls when developing technical skills in football.
- Analyse technical skill performance during real time match play and practice sessions.
- Analyse mechanisms of potential head injury situations during match play.
Funding
Tuition fees and bursary
Benefits
The successful candidate will receive comprehensive research training including technical, personal and professional skills. All researchers at Coventry University (from PhD to Professor) are part of the Doctoral College and Centre for Research Capability and Development, which provides support with high-quality training and career development activities.
Entry requirements
- A minimum of a 2:1 first degree in a relevant discipline/subject area with a minimum 60% mark in the project element or equivalent with a minimum 60% overall module average.
PLUS
- The potential to engage in innovative research and to complete the PhD within 3.5 years.
- A minimum of English language proficiency (IELTS academic overall minimum score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component).
Additional Requirements
Recognising the interdisciplinary nature of this proposal, care will be needed to recruit a candidate who has the potential to develop track record in this kind of work. For that reason, we will use a multi-armed and multi-modal recruitment strategy to ensure we access a diverse range. This will include activities in the selection criteria that go beyond simple interview, such as a presentation on how the candidate would approach this topic, targeted at an understanding the candidate’s knowledge. An individual with a background in sports science, physiotherapy or similar background, for example, would have existing knowledge on multiple aspects for this project.
How to apply
To find out more about the project, please contact Sam Oxford.
All applications require full supporting documentation, a covering letter, plus a 2000-word supporting statement showing how the applicant’s expertise and interests are relevant to the project.
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