Introduction. Research has proven that when developing a program to attract university students to physical education classes, it is necessary to take into account the motives for physical activity, gender characteristics of students, their preferences regarding the content and forms of physical activity, and "to put forward realistic proposals for overcoming the identified barriers to physical activity" [1, 2].

Objective of the study is to identify gender characteristics of motivation and involvement in physical education classes among students studying in technical, medical, and economic fields of study.

Methodology and organization of the study. A sociological survey was conducted involving 483 students (345 girls and 138 boys) studying in the 1st and 2nd years of five Russian universities (Volgograd, Kazan, Yakutsk) using a questionnaire developed by the authors. The questionnaire consists of 13 questions and 66 closed-ended sub-questions, allowing for the assessment of motivation and types of student involvement in physical education classes: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive.

Results of the study and their discussion. The questionnaire survey revealed gender characteristics of preferences for types of physical activity: boys prefer such types of physical activity as gym workouts (1st place), with students of technical universities placing e-sports in 2nd place and sports games in 3rd place, while students of medical universities place running and swimming in 2nd-3rd place; girls prefer yoga (1st place), gym workouts (2nd place), with female students of medical universities placing therapeutic exercise in 3rd place, and female students of technical universities and future economists placing sports games in 3rd place.

The desire to have a beautiful figure, improve well-being, and relieve stress after studying are the main motivators of physical activity for both girls and boys; receiving credit for physical education is not a significant trigger of activity; meanwhile, academic workload and laziness are the main barriers hindering students' physical activity.

Behavioral involvement was assessed by the level of physical activity; the physical activity of male respondents was significantly higher than that of female respondents; behavioral involvement was also assessed by rating the statement on a 5-point scale: "I am ready to go to training even if the weather is bad outside or I have a low level of motivation." The average responses of boys were 3.79±1.36 points, which was significantly higher than the responses of girls – 3.10±1.48 points.

Emotional involvement in physical education classes (interest in classes, drive from the process) was assessed by responses to 5 questions about the emotions they experience before, during, and after class; when answering two out of five questions, gender characteristics were identified. Thus, boys attend physical education classes in a better mood (4.10±1.11 points) than girls (3.77±1.10 points). During training, boys often lose track of time because they are engrossed in the process (4.03±1.12 points), while for girls this indicator is 3.66±1.21 points, which is significantly lower.

Cognitive involvement was assessed by the ability to select physical exercises for independent practice; for boys, this ability is 3.93±1.25 points, while for girls it is rated significantly lower – 3.48±1.38 points.

The level of psychological and pedagogical comfort in university physical education classes was assessed on a 10-point scale. It should be understood that this indicator is determined by a combination of many factors – the personality of the teacher and their professionalism, the material and technical base for physical education classes, the content of classes, the attitude of the student's social environment (friends and classmates) towards physical activity, the student's socio-psychological status among classmates, etc. No significant gender differences were found in responses to this question; in different universities, comfort was assessed in the range from 7.09 to 8.44 points, which can be assessed as a fairly high indicator.

Conclusion. Thus, we have identified gender characteristics of motivation and barriers to physical activity, preferences for types of physical activity of male and female students, as well as differences in the components of involvement in physical education classes, which should be taken into account in the organization of physical education for university students.

References

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No. 5, pp. 88–88

Received: 27.03.2026 | Published: 08.05.2026

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