The government will publish a report on Thursday on its blueprint to get more women playing sport and the sporting industry to take females more seriously.
The report highlights the campaign to encourage more women to live active lifestyles and take up traditional sports like football and rugby as well as activities like zumba.
It focuses on research published by Women in Sport which found that 43 per cent of girls think there are not many sporting role models for girls.
And over half of boys and girls agreed there are more opportunities for males to succeed in sport than females.
The report by the Government’s Women and Sport Advisory Board also calls for more female sports journalists covering both men’s and women’s sports and called for greater commercial investment in women’s sport by pumping more money into the grassroots for better facilities and equipment.
It also wants the lack of women on the boards of sports bodies to be addressed as well as more recognition for women’s sporting success.
The number of women playing sport ha risen by 62,800 to 6m this year and women received 40% of sporting honours in 2014 up from 31% in 2013.
But the board still faces challenges - 1.97 million more men play sport than women although that is down from 2.2 million in 2011.
Change
Helen Grant MP, the Minister for Sport and Tourism, said: “Women are still playing far less sport than men, nearly half the National Governing Bodies of sport have less than 25 per cent women represented on their boards, women’s sport accounts for just seven per cent of all sports media coverage.
"Only 0.4 per cent of the value of reported sponsorship deals in sport. With continued efforts, however, we will see change.”
The findings will be presented on Thursday at the Transforming Sport event run by the Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
It coincides with the first national conference on women’s sport where Sport England will unveil the campaign to encourage more females to become active.
The Women and Sport Advisory Board was formed in 2013 and its members include Baroness Karren Brady and Judy Murray, the mother of tennis star Andy Murray.
Baroness Brady, Vice-Chair of West Ham United, said: “By identifying talented women in sport and business, supporting them and developing their confidence, more and more women can reach and thrive within the boardroom.”
