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Women Within International Sports Federations: Contemporary Challenges

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Histories of Women's Work in Global Sport

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Sport and Politics ((PASSP))

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Abstract

This study proposes an overview of women’s current participation in the decision-making bodies of international sports federations (ISF). It firstly uses a quantitative approach, gathering evidence on the board composition of 28 ISFs as well as on their leadership duo president/director general. Secondly, collects in-depth information about the International Cycling Union (UCI) through an exploratory study, consisting of 12 semi-structured interviews with members from different hierarchical levels. Results show that despite an overall positive evolution, women holding leadership positions in the governance of international sport organizations remain an exception. The study further suggests that the gender orientation of a sport, the history of the federation’s structuration as well as the formal gender policies implemented by the organizations impact the gender ratio at governance level.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Jose Carbajal, “Women and Work: Ascending to Leadership Positions,” Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 28, no. 1 (2018): 12–27.

  2. 2.

    Lisa Rubin and Nancy Lough, “Perspectives of the Title IX Pioneers: Equity, Equality, and Need,” Journal of Intercollegiate Sport 8, no. 2 (2015): 109–30.

  3. 3.

    Ministère des droits des femmes, de la ville, de la jeunesse et des sports. Panorama sur les plans de féminisation des fédérations sportives, accessed October 28, 2018, http://www.sports.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/planfem.pdf.

  4. 4.

    Mari Kristin Sisjord Kari Fasting and Svela Trond Sand, “The Impact of Gender Quotas in Leadership in Norwegian Organised Sport,” International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics 9, no. 3 (2017): 505–19.

  5. 5.

    Accessed October 29, 2018, https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Agenda_2020/Olympic_Agenda_2020-20-20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf.

  6. 6.

    Accessed October 29, 2018, https://www.olympic.org/women-in-sport/background/key-dates.

  7. 7.

    Accessed October 29, 2018, https://www.olympic.org/women-in-sport/background/key-dates.

  8. 8.

    International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG). Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport, accessed October 2018, http://iwg-gti.org/index.php/iwg-content/cid/117/the-brighton-declaration-on-women-and-sport/.

  9. 9.

    Johanna Adriaanse, “Europe in World Perspective: The Sydney Scoreboard Global Index for Women in Sport Leadership,” in Agnes Elling, Jorid Hovden, and Annelies Knoppers (eds.), Gender Diversity in European Sport Governance (London: Routledge, 2018), 12.

  10. 10.

    Accessed October 2018, http://www.sydneyscoreboard.com/.

  11. 11.

    Accessed October 2018, https://iwg--gti-orgbin.directo.fi/@Bin/4b98ee03a2a7902c2a0783231add9010/1540914904/application/pdf/373320/Helsinki%20calls%20the%20world%20of%20sport%20to%20LEAD%20THE%20CHANGE,%20BE%20THE%20CHANGE.pdf.

  12. 12.

    Johanna Adriaanse and Toni Schofield, “The Impact of Gender Quotas on Gender Equality in Sport Governance,” Journal of Sport Management 28, no. 5 (2014): 485–97.

  13. 13.

    Ian Henry and Leigh Robinson, Gender Equity and Leadership in Olympic Bodies (Loughborough University and the IOC, 2010).

  14. 14.

    Moran Betzer-Tayar, Sima Zach, Yair Galily, and Ian Henry, “Barriers to Women’s Access to Decision-Making Positions in Sport Organizations: The Case of Establishing a Girls’ Volleyball Academy in Israel,” Journal of Gender Studies 26, no. 4 (2017): 418–31; Georges Cunningham, Diversity in Sport Organizations (London: Routledge, 2010); Sally Shaw and Wendy Frisby, “Can Gender Equity Be More Equitable?: Promoting an Alternative Frame for Sport Management Research, Education, and Practice,” Journal of Sport Management 20 (2006): 483–509.

  15. 15.

    Henry and Robinson, “Gender Equity and Leadership.”

  16. 16.

    Henry and Robinson, “Gender Equity and Leadership.”

  17. 17.

    Henry and Robinson, “Gender Equity and Leadership.”

  18. 18.

    See for example: Siri Terjesen, Ruth Aguilera, and Ruth Lorenz, “Legislating a Woman’s Seat on the Board: Institutional Factors Driving Gender Quotas for Boards of Directors,” Journal of Business Ethics 128, no. 2 (2015): 233–51.

  19. 19.

    Popi Sotiriadou, Donna De Haan, and Annelies Knoppers, Understanding and Redefining the Role of Men in Achieving Gender Equity in Sport Leadership (Final Report for the IOC Olympic Studies Center, 2017).

  20. 20.

    Laila Ottesen, Berit Skirstad, Gertrud Pfister, and Ulla Habermann, “Gender Relations in Scandinavian Sport Organisations: A Comparison of the Situation and Policies in Denmark, Norway and Sweden,” Sport in Society 13, no. 4 (2010): 657–75.

  21. 21.

    Ian Henry, Wirdati Radzi, Emma Rich, Chris Shelton, Eleni Theodoraki, and Anita White, Women, Leadership and the Olympic Movement (Loughborough: Institute of Sport and Leisure Policy, Loughborough University and the IOC, 2004).

  22. 22.

    Sisjord, Fasting, and Sand, “The Impact of Gender Quotas.”

  23. 23.

    Johanna Adriaanse, “Gender Diversity in the Governance of Sport Associations: The Sydney Scoreboard Global Index of Participation,” Journal of Business Ethics 137, no. 1 (2016): 149–60.

  24. 24.

    Larena Hoeber, “‘It’s Somewhere on the List but Maybe It’s One of the bottom One’s’: Examining Gender Equity as an Organization Value in a Sport Organization,” International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 2, no. 4 (2007): 362–78.

  25. 25.

    Laura Burton, “Underrepresentation of Women in Sport Leadership: A Review of Research,” Sport Management Review 18, no. 2 (2014): 155–65.

  26. 26.

    Shaw and Frisby, “Can Gender Equity Be More Equitable?”

  27. 27.

    Gertrud Pfister, “Women and Leadership Positions—Theoretical Reflections.” in Gudrun Doll-Tepper, Gertrud Pfister, and Sabine Radtke (eds.), Progress Towards Leadership: Biographies and Career Paths of Male and Female Leaders in German Sports Organisations (Köln: Sportverlag Strauss, 2006), 9–53, here 30.

  28. 28.

    Adriaanse and Schofield, “The Impact of Gender Quotas.”

  29. 29.

    Moran Betzer-Tayar, Sima Zach, Galily Yair, and Ian Henry, “Barriers to Women’s Access to Decision-Making Positions in Sport Organizations: The Case of Establishing a Girls’ Volleyball Academy in Israel,” Journal of Gender Studies 26, no. 4 (2017): 418–31.

  30. 30.

    Nicky Le Feuvre, “Exploring Women’s Academic Careers in Cross-National Perspective: Lessons for Equal Opportunity Policies,” Equal Opportunities International 28, no. 1 (2009): 9–23.

  31. 31.

    Burton, “Underrepresentation of Women in Sport Leadership.”

  32. 32.

    Pfister, “Women and Leadership Positions.”

  33. 33.

    Gertrud Pfister and Sabien Radtke, “Sport, Women, and Leadership: Results of a Project on Executives in German Sports Organizations,” European Journal of Sport Science 9, no. 4 (2009): 229–43.

  34. 34.

    Sue Brown and Richard Light, “Women’s Sport Leadership Styles as the Result of Interaction Between Feminine and Masculine Approaches,” Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport, and Physical Education 3, no. 3 (2012): 185–98.

  35. 35.

    Burton, “Underrepresentation of Women in Sport Leadership.”

  36. 36.

    Brown and Light, “Women’s Sport Leadership Styles.”

  37. 37.

    Pfister, “Women and Leadership Positions.”

  38. 38.

    Sally Shaw and Dawn Penney, “Gender Equity Policies in National Governing Bodies: An Oxymoron or a Vehicle for Change?” European Sport Management Quarterly 3 (2003): 78–102.

  39. 39.

    Adriaanse and Schofield, “The Impact of Gender Quotas.”

  40. 40.

    Johanna Adriaanse and Toni Schofield, “Analysing Gender Dynamics in Sport Governance: A New Regimes-Based Approach,” Sport Management Review 16, no. 4 (2013): 498–513; Burton, “Underrepresentation of Women in Sport Leadership.”

  41. 41.

    Betzer-Tayar et al., “Barriers to Women’s Access to Decision-Making Positions,” in Brown and Richard, “Women’s Sport Leadership Styles.” Jorid Hovden, “‘Heavyweight’ Men and Younger Women?: The Gendering of Selection Processes in Norwegian Sports Organizations,” Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research 8, no. 1 (2000): 17–32.

  42. 42.

    Sotiriadou et al., “Understanding and Redefining the Role of Men.”

  43. 43.

    Elling et al., “Gender Diversity in European Sport Governance.”

  44. 44.

    Rosabeth Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation (New York: Basic Books, 1997).

  45. 45.

    Accessed October 2018, https://library.olympic.org/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/67854/rio-2016-olympic-games-international-federations-report-international-olympic-committee-olympic-prog?_lg=en-GB.

  46. 46.

    Accessed October 2018, http://www.sydneyscoreboard.com/scoreboard/international-federations/.

  47. 47.

    Laura Burton, “Underrepresentation of Women in Sport Leadership: A Review of Research,” Sport Management Review 18, no. 2 (2014); Maureen Smith and Alison Wrynn, “Women in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: An Analysis of Participation and Leadership Opportunities,” accessed October 2018, http://www.womenssportfoundation.org/en/home/research/sharp-center.

  48. 48.

    The equestrian IF does not give exact data regarding the gender distribution of its members. But one can assume that the French Federation (FFE), which is the biggest national equestrian federation in terms of the numbers of members, is to some extent representative of this gender distribution: 83.6% of the FFE’s members are women. Also, it is important to note that there is a cluster of women at amateur levels and a dearth at the professional level in equestrian sports.

  49. 49.

    Accessed September 22, 2018, https://www.triathlon.org/news/article/gender_balance_itu.

  50. 50.

    ‘Blush’ refers to make-up, and, in this context, underlines the emphasis on and acceptance of femininity in a male-dominated sport.

  51. 51.

    The boxing IF’s statutes indicate that its Executive Committee is composed of 28 members—24 directly elected by the federation’s Congress and 4 appointed by the elected members of the Executive Committee.

  52. 52.

    Drude Dahlerup and Lenita Freidenvall, “Quotas as a ‘Fast Track’ to Equal Representation for Women. Why Scandinavia is no Longer the Model”, International Feministe Journal of Politics 7, no. 1 (2005): 26–48.

  53. 53.

    Accessed November 2018, http://www.uci.org/news/2018/uci-cycling-agenda-2022.

  54. 54.

    See Dahlerup and Freidenvall, “Quotas as a ‘Fast Track’.”

  55. 55.

    Smith and Wrynn, “Women in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

  56. 56.

    http://en.olympic.cn/news/olympic_news/2009-03-10/1753377.html, accessed June 5, 2018 and https://www.triathlon.org/news/article/gender_balance_itu, accessed June 5, 2018.

  57. 57.

    Aubrey Kent and Sean Phelps, “Isomorphism and Choice in the Creation and Development of an International Sports Federation: A Review of the International Triathlon Union,” International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 8, no. 3–4 (2010): 283.

  58. 58.

    http://www.uci.org/news/2018/uci-cycling-agenda-2022, accessed November 2018.

  59. 59.

    http://www.asoif.com/news/uci-wins-2017-creative-sports-award, accessed June 4, 2018.

  60. 60.

    Adriaanse, “Europe in World Perspective,” 17.

  61. 61.

    Adriaanse, “Europe in World Perspective,” 17–18.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sport Sciences Institute, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Lucie Schoch

  2. International Academy of Sports Science and Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Joséphine Clausen

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  1. Lucie Schoch
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  2. Joséphine Clausen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia

    Georgia Cervin

  2. University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Claire Nicolas

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Schoch, L., Clausen, J. (2019). Women Within International Sports Federations: Contemporary Challenges. In: Cervin, G., Nicolas, C. (eds) Histories of Women's Work in Global Sport. Palgrave Studies in Sport and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26909-8_12

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