Dee Dlugonski had always been an athlete. She grew up swimming and the sport stuck with her as she became a Division I college athlete at Penn State and then started her coaching career in the years after. Although she loved being a coach for a sport she was passionate about, she wanted to do more. 

“What I learned and observed from coaching were some differences in how men and women interacted within athletics,” said Dlugonski, Research Scholar and Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky Sports Medicine Research Institute. “They're all elite athletes. I was working with men and women, but the women were the ones in my office saying they didn't know if they could do it. They weren’t as sure and not feeling confident in themselves.”

Dlugonski's observations during her time as a coach at Penn State led her to question different correlations of self-esteem in men versus women within athletics. She decided to dive into her observations and questions, leading her to graduate school to begin research.

“I realized that athletics are great, but a competitive sport is just one avenue in which we have to be active,” said Dlugonski. “For me, it's much more important to think big picture about how we get all people to feel confident and comfortable moving.”

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