Gender diversity in sport leadership: an investigation of United States of America National Governing Bodies of Sport

ABSTRACT

Research question: This article examines if gender diversity within the governance structures of the National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs), within the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has an impact on gender membership in sport.

Research methods: Employing Kanter's [(1977). Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books] theory of Critical Mass as a lens to examine the USOPC's Diversity and Inclusion Scorecard.

Results and Findings, and Implications: The results indicate that females are largely under-represented in leadership roles within NGBs. Findings also indicate a positive correlation between female representation in the leadership structure of NGBs, and the ability of the NGB to achieve female membership benchmarks, thus supportive of Critical Mass Theory. The implications of the study supports both an ethical case for female representation, but highlights a clear business performance case for greater gender diversity in the senior roles of leadership within NGB's in the USPOC.

KEYWORDS:

• Sport governance
• Critical Mass
• Gender inclusion
• Gender diversity on boards
• National sport organisations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.