Teachers' expectations are important factors influencing students’ participation, performance and attitude towards physical education. Understanding how students’ perceive teachers’ expectations and how these expectations affect their participation and performance provides deeper understanding of the attitude development processes toward physical education. The purpose of this study was to examine if female students perceive physical education teachers' gender-role-stereotyped expectations, how these expectations affect their participation and performance, and to analyze factors that contribute to the development of attitude toward physical education. Twenty middle school female students and their physical education teachers (one male and one female) participated in this study. Data collection included an in-depth interview, using a semi-structured interview guide that was first pre-pilot and pilot tested, forty observations (2 per student) and a member check with each female student. The physical education teachers were informally interviewed after each student observation. Themes emerged after data were transcribed and analyzed by content analysis (Patton, 2002). Data were triangulated during analysis and member checks and peer debriefing techniques were used in order to ensure trustworthiness and credibility of the results. Findings suggest that there is no evidence to support that female students perceive gender-role-stereotyped expectations from their physical education teachers. Female students, however, have and perceive their male peers as having gender-role-stereotyped expectations. The data further reveal no supporting evidence that teachers' gender-role-stereotyped expectations influenced female students' attitudes toward physical education. The female students perceived no differential treatment or expectations in their teachers' behavior toward males and females. Factors contributing to this finding include female students' perceptions of their teacher's general and gender-role-stereotyped expectations and teachers’ awareness of issues of gender equity. Observations confirmed students’ perceptions that teachers treated boys and girls similarly. Furthermore, female students’ generally had positive feelings toward co-educational education, but other factors influence enjoyment and participation in physical education. The competitive atmosphere and the curriculum, including how they impact students’ feelings of physical and emotional safety, are primary factors affecting females’ attitude toward and performance in physical education. Results of this study add to our knowledge of how factors such as curriculum, peers' attitudes, and teachers impact female students’ experience in physical education. Not only do these factors affect female students’ participation and performance, but the results of this study also extend other research suggesting they are primary factors contributing to the development of attitudes toward physical education.Keyword(s): gender issues, middle school issues