Gender Equity for Athletes: Multiple Understandings of an Organizational Value

Abstract

Although gender equity for athletes is a frequently researched topic, it is often assumed that understandings of gender equity are unitary and shared, which may complicate the implementation of it. The purpose of this study was to understand and critique the meanings of gender equity for athletes through in-depth interviews with 5 administrators, 6 coaches, and 17 athletes at 1 Canadian university athletic department. These data were coded and categorized using Atlas.ti. The findings revealed multiple but narrow meanings of gender equity: (a) equality, (b) conditional equality, and (c) a women's only issue. None of these challenged the taken for granted assumptions associated with university athletics; however, they illustrated the complexities and struggles involved in understanding this organizational value.

Gender and Sex Diversity in Sport Organizations: Introduction to a Special Issue

“…The articles in the Special Issue have adopted varied methodological approaches, including indepth semi-structured qualitative interviews (Bruening and Dixon 2008;Claringbould and Knoppers 2008;FieldingLloyd and Mean 2008;Hoeber 2008;Ross and Shinew 2008), critical discourse analyses (Knoppers and Anthonissen 2008), participant observations (Anderson 2008), survey research (Avery et al 2008), and laboratory experiments (Angelini 2008;Parker and Fink 2008). The diversity of approaches to the study of sex and gender in sport organizations provides an encompassing perspective-one that allows for a more complete understanding of gender in the workplace.…”

“…Furthermore, few scholars have examined athletes and their perceptions of gender-related concepts. Studies from Hoeber (2008) and Ross and Shinew (2008) address these shortcomings.…”

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Examining the Working Conditions of Women Coaches

“…Finally, Dixon and Bruening [3] suggest that societal and organisational values need to be examined in conjunction with organisational structures. Hoeber and Frisby [24] and Hoeber [25] have argued that organisational values are fragmented, with different meanings and influence attributed to them. Values are influential, as they encourage employees and volunteers to think and act in certain ways within their organisations.…”

Gender and Sex Diversity in Sport Organizations: Concluding Comments

“…For example, Hoeber's (2007) work highlights just how entrenched gender inequities in sport remain today, even among athletes and coaches, and perhaps most surprisingly, among some female athletes themselves. Bruening and Dixon (2007) report on the gendered nature of the workplace and how substantially it can impact female coaches who are also mothers.…”