Fitness testing: how do students make sense of the gender disparities?

The ways in which students make sense of the gendered fitness expectations found in a norm-referenced fitness testing program (i.e. President's challenge physical fitness test) were the focus of this study. Participants were 18 fifth grade students who completed fitness tests in their physical education classes. They were interviewed using a standardized, open-ended protocol designed to elicit their perceptions of the fitness test. Three salient themes emerged from the data: (1) students used notions of essentialism and social construction to explain gender differences; (2) students observed their peers' performances through gendered lenses; and (3) students provided suggestions for change. Based on the findings from this study, researchers and practitioners may begin to recognize the ways in which fitness testing affects how students socially construct ideologies about fitness, ability and their bodies.