Women and leadership: advancing gender equity policies in sport leadership through sport governance

ABSTRACT

This paper uses a multilevel framework to deconstruct the role board members play in advancing gender equity policies in leadership positions in sport governance. Data were collected using in-depth interviews with Triathlon board members of the International Federation and two National Federations. The results show that within the multilevel framework, at the individual (micro) level, male equity champions pave the way for both challenging existing stereotypes at an organisational level (meso) within the boards, and at the sport level (macro) through the introduction and implementation of strategies and policies in the organisations studied, and constitutional changes that encourage women to engage in leadership roles. These strategies and policies display the power of equity champions of change and their willingness and ability to create a gender equitable governance culture. Equity champions of change enable women to feel valued in leadership roles, and further encourage and promote the acceptance of women in the governance of sport organisations.

KEYWORDS:

• Equity champions
• leadership
• governance
• policy
• sport business
• multilevel framework

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Advanced Olympic Research grant. The paper draws from data used in the report available online at https://library.olympic.org/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/171304/understanding-and-redefining-the-role-of-men-in-achieving-gender-equity-in-sport-leadership-popi-sot

We wish to thank Prof. Dr. Annelies Knoppers (Utrecht University, The Netherlands) for her contributions with the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.