How Do Gender and Previous Contact with People with Disabilities Affect Students’ Attitudes Towards Inclusion in Physical Education? A Chilean–Spanish Experience

The research explores the attitudes of students without disabilities towards the inclusion of students with disabilities in Physical Education classes. It analyses how gender and previous contact with people with disabilities influence these attitudes across four Spanish-speaking cities. The study involved 3732 secondary school students from Spain and Chile. Data was collected using the Students’ Attitudes Towards Integration in Physical Education (CAIPER-R) instrument. The results indicated that girls generally have more positive attitudes towards inclusion than boys. However, previous contact with people with disabilities did not significantly affect the students’ attitudes. There were also differences observed across the cities, with Extremadura showing the highest inclusion scores. This study highlights the importance of gender in shaping attitudes towards inclusion in PE. It suggests that new educational policies are effectively promoting inclusion across culturally similar countries, such as Chile and Spain.