Explaining the Under-Representation of Women in Leadership Positions of Sport Organizations: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

The Experience of Former Women Officials and the Impact on the Sporting Community

“…While progress has been made in providing sport opportunities for women, women are still significantly under-represented in its management and research affirms the suggestion that men continue to dominate the field (Burton et al 2009;Walker and Bopp FEMALE OFFICIALS 4 2010). In fact, sport has been widely criticized for the lack of women in roles of power (e.g., Cunningham 2008;Sartore and Cunningham 2007).…”

“Coaching soccer is a man’s job!” – The influence of gender stereotypes on structures for recruiting female coaches to soccer clubs

“…Consequently, decision-making bodies and specific gender distributions are significant to recruitment. The managing 2 Similar connections have also been demonstrated for the recruitment of female managers or functionaries by sport organisations (e.g., Combrink, 2004;Hartmann-Tews & Combrink, 2005;Hovden, 2000;Pfister & Radtke, 2006;2009;Sartore & Cunningham, 2007;Schulz & Auld, 2006). boards of sports organisations and the networks responsible for recruiting coaches are largely male (so-called "old boys clubs") (e.g., Lovett & Lowry, 1994;Roffey, 2001;Knoppers & Anthonissen, 2001;Whisenant, Vincent, Pedersen & Zapalc, 2007).…”

“…So, women are often considered by decision-makers (external selection) to be only partially suitable for coaching jobs, because of typical female character traits (e.g., Bahlke et al, 2003;Hovden, 1999). Women are more likely to be described in terms of attributes such as their capacity for teamwork, communicative competence and fairness, while men are said to display confidence, assertiveness and leadership qualities (e.g., Sinning, 2006;Bahlke et al, 2003;Sartore & Cunningham, 2007). At the same time, studies show that women do not find the role of a coach attractive, or that they do not view themselves as being suitable based on male-connoted role expectations (e.g., Bahlke et al, 2003;Cunningham, Doherty & Gregg, 2007;Sartore & Cunningham, 2007;Weigelt-Schlesinger, 2008).…”

“…Women are more likely to be described in terms of attributes such as their capacity for teamwork, communicative competence and fairness, while men are said to display confidence, assertiveness and leadership qualities (e.g., Sinning, 2006;Bahlke et al, 2003;Sartore & Cunningham, 2007). At the same time, studies show that women do not find the role of a coach attractive, or that they do not view themselves as being suitable based on male-connoted role expectations (e.g., Bahlke et al, 2003;Cunningham, Doherty & Gregg, 2007;Sartore & Cunningham, 2007;Weigelt-Schlesinger, 2008). Furthermore, it has been shown that most sports organisations do not have systematic or wide-ranging recruitment practices; instead, recruitment is mostly non-standardised and takes place informally (Hovden, 1999(Hovden, , 2012Schreiner & Thiel, 2011).…”

Women in intercollegiate athletics : an exploration of the career development of female senior administrators.

“…Studies in sport management have attributed low numbers of women in managerial positions to male-dominated organizational structures and the gender stereotypes they perpetuate (Bruening, Dixon, Tiell, Osbourne, Lough, & Sweeney, 2008;Burton, Barr, Fink, & Bruening, 2009;Burton et aI., 2011;Grappendorf & Lough, 2006;Inglis, Danylchuk, & Pastore, 2000;Moore, Parkhouse, & Konrad, 2001;Sartore & Cunningham, 2007;Whisenant et aI., 2002). While organizational structures and stereotypes affect women's work experiences, perhaps the experiences of women in intercollegiate athletic administration warrant a more holistic perspective to better explain the underrepresentation of women in senior management positions and as Athletic Directors.…”