Female athletes make up more than half of Australia’s Olympic team for the Paris games — but in the coaching ranks, the gender divide is stark.

Only 9 per cent of high-performance coaches in Australia are women, with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) describing the under representation as a “critical issue”.

The Brisbane Olympic Games are just eight years away and the event looms as a key point in time by which the gender divide must be substantially narrowed in order to fulfil Australia’s official high-performance sport strategy to have a workforce that is “representative of the Australian population”.

One coach of an Olympic sport, who wished to remain anonymous, told the ABC she was on an indefinite break from elite-level coaching after reaching breaking point in her work environment.

“I’d always get told ‘you’re just an up-and-coming coach’ even though I had athletes of the same calibre [as other male coaches],” she said.

Evidence of gender bias in sport

Research conducted by the AIS found the sexist stereotype that a man is the best coach for a job persists across many sports, resulting in women leaving the high-performance field.

Inflexible workplace arrangements were also identified as a barrier to women staying in elite sport for the long haul, as many women found their role as primary caregiver to their children incompatible with frequent travel overseas.

The former high-performance coach said there was no support offered to her once she became a mother and had to leave her young child behind for weeks at a time on frequent trips overseas.

She said while it had crossed her mind to ask if her child could come with her, she knew the answer would be no.

“Never once did anyone suggest it as an option or ask ‘how can we make this easier for you?’,” she said.

“I certainly understand that there are times when you would need to focus and you don’t need extra distractions, but you could work out where and when family time is appropriate when you’re on tour.”

Support crucial for aspiring coaches

Stacey Peters, Golf Australia’s female pathway manager, said she could have been lost to the sport if it wasn’t for the support of her higher-ups at Golf Australia.

A former professional on the LPGA tour, Peters wanted to continue her career in the sport without sacrificing time spent with her daughter Zoe.

When Zoe was just 18 months old, Golf Australia made family-friendly travel arrangements for Peters so she didn’t have to choose between her family and her job.

“I was a little apprehensive about how everybody else, the team or others at Golf Australia, may find Zoe to be a distraction,” she said.

Peters said there was no “one size fits all” approach to what women needed in order to continue their roles after starting a family, but the practical help and flexible approach taken by Golf Australia has been crucial to her ongoing success in her role.

Sandy Brondello, head coach of Australia’s women’s basketball team the Opals and WNBA’s New York Liberty, is currently preparing her squad to challenge for the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

The mother of two said she likely wouldn’t have made it to the heights of her coaching if not for the support she received when her children were young, particularly when on the road.

She said remaining professional while also having children present on tour wasn’t as hard as it seemed.

“It’s not a daycare, we’re there to work and be the best we can be,” she said.

“It’s more that families are around for support. Once we finish work, you go back to your room, you’ve got your kids there.

Should there be a quota?

Michelle De Highden leads the Women in High Performance Coaching Project as part of her role in high performance coach development at the AIS.

She said the best person for a job should be given the job, but that “best person” could be a woman who had missed out because, as her research shows, women are not afforded the same opportunities as their male counterparts.

“We believe very strongly that having a diverse workforce is a performance enabler, and a performance advantage,” she said.

However, De Highden doesn’t believe a quota system — where sports are obliged to appoint a certain number of women to high performance roles — is the answer.

“We need to be able to tackle this at an organisational level, and also a social cultural level.”