Between Stigma and Support: How Esports Students and Teachers Experience and Negotiate Societal and Parental Attitudes Towards Esports

Abstract

Although esports are gaining traction in formal education, their legitimacy remains contested. Previous research has explored institutional developments, but fewer studies have examined how legitimacy is experienced and negotiated by students and teachers. Through reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with twelve students and two teachers in a Norwegian upper secondary esports programme, we identified three key themes: ‘They care but don’t quite get it’ (parental attitudes), ‘If it were football, they’d clap’ (societal perceptions) and ‘We have to make it make sense’ (legitimation strategies). The study contributes to esports research by demonstrating how students and teachers strive to align esports with institutional and cultural norms and by identifying key equity concerns related to recognition, gendered access and the symbolic framing of esports as a meaningful activity.