Women’s Paths to Sport Leadership: Emerging, Continuing, and Developing as Leaders

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Short Description

Given that women occupy even fewer positions in sport leadership than in the broader corporate sector, elucidating women’s paths to sport leadership is critical to ameliorating this imbalance. Presenters will share insights regarding three moments of leadership development for women: graduate school, coaching, and sport administration.

Detailed Abstract

This session emerges from the social reality that sport is a powerful cultural institution, and the fact that it is a domain still mostly led by men is problematic in a global society.
While opportunities for women as participants in sport have grown exponentially over the last 20 years, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions in sport organizations (Burton, Grappendorf, & Henderson, 2011; Coakley, 2009; Evans, 2011; Hovden, 2010; Reinhold, 2005; Sartore & Cunningham, 2007; Shaw & Hoeber, 2003; Strawbridge, 2000). Relative to the general business sector, there are few women in senior decision-making positions in sport management (Acosta & Carpenter, 2000; Shaw & Hoeber, 2003; Strawbridge, 2000). In the non-sport business sector, 51.5% of working women hold management, professional or administrative positions (Evans, 2011). In sport, however, women hold only 34% of all administrative jobs in collegiate athletics, 19.3% of athletic director positions nationwide and less than 9% of the athletic director positions at the Division I level (Acosta & Carpenter, 2000; Burton et al., 2011). Furthermore, prior to Title IX, women held over 90% of all head coach positions for women athletics. In 2012, 43% of women’s teams were coached by women, the second lowest percentage of female coaches of women’s teams in history.

Drawing on critical feminist perspectives, the aim of this session is twofold. First, we elucidate the particular strength of gender stereotypes within the sport context that not only make it problematic for women to attain higher levels of leadership, but rather make it unlikely that women even view themselves as fit for leadership. In other words, for women in sport leadership, the primary hurdle may be seeing themselves as fit for leadership within the sport context. Second, we present two areas of focus that we suggest should work in tandem in order to bring more women into sport leadership. We propose that support systems as well as individual development that are grounded in problematizing the view that women simply need to be more like men are required in order to more effectively bring women into sport leadership positions.

To this end, this session explores findings from research that covers three key stages of leadership development: emerging, continuing and professional career development. First, tracing leadership development experiences of female graduate students enrolled in a sport management program, elucidates the challenges of ‘undoing” dominant cultural narratives regarding leadership. Next, research that highlights ambiguous paths female coaches in intercollegiate athletics follow as they seek continued growth as leaders within this context. Finally, research regarding aspects critical to attaining senior level positions in sport administration reveals systemic barriers. By highlighting these challenges, our research illuminates possible ways forward for women desiring to work in sport organizations.

Implications emerging from this session are that multiple approaches to the issue of the underrepresentation of women in sport leadership are needed for social change. The assumptions of these approaches are that women do not need fixing. Instead, suggestions on where efforts might focus to address the dearth of women in sport build on the idea that dominant cultural assumptions should be challenged at the organizational and individual levels. Specifically, raising awareness of dominant cultural constructions of leadership in sport and of women in general gives women the confidence to re-imagine themselves as fit for leadership. Further, education at the organizational level is critical to opening up the spaces for women being seen as fit for sport leadership.

Sub Unit

• Leadership Development

Chair

• Cheryl Getz, University of San Diego

Commentator

• Chrys Egan, Salisbury University

Individual Presentations

• On Becoming a Female Sport Leader: Insights and Experiences of Female Graduate Students - Maylon Hanold, Seattle University

• On an Elusive Path: The Professional Development Experiences of U.S. Collegiate Women’s Rowing Coaches - Sara L. Lopez, University of Washington

• The Underrepresentation of Women at Senior Level in Sports Organizations: Are Women Applying? - Sarah I Leberman, Massey University