The gender gap in sport event attendance in Europe: The impact of macro-level gender equality

Abstract

This paper studies the gender gap in sport event attendance-characterized by higher male and lower female participation-using a macro-sociological and cross-national comparative approach. We argue that because gender is produced and justified in the realm of sport, gender gaps in sport event attendance may be more pronounced in some societies than others, depending on the position women and men have in the particular context in which someone 'does' his/her gender. So, in addition to individual attributes, one has to consider the societal, macro-level gender equality in order to understand the individual-level gender inequalities in sport event attendance. Using multilevel analyses on Eurobarometer data (2007), we evaluate whether the size of the gender gap in sport event attendance varies across European Union (EU) countries and how this variation relates to societal gender equality, as measured by the Gender Equality Index of the European Institute for Gender Equality. We find higher male than female attendance in all EU countries, but also conclude that higher levels of macro-level gender equality are associated with smaller gender gaps in sport event attendance.

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“…research findings, men (M HU =59.5, SD=35.9, n=324; M RO =56.8, SD=34.4 n=51; M UA = 67.4, SD=32.8, n=67) do more sport than women (M HU =55.1, SD=32.4, n=753; M RO =44.9; SD=29.7, n=259; M UA =54.1; SD=30.3, n=161) (Lageart & Roose, 2016;Ross, 2008). The financial situation of the respondents was also found to be a powerful influencing factor among the students in Hungary and Romania: the students in an objectively better than average financial situation, subjectively in the best situation do more sport than the average.…”

Gender and highbrow cultural participation in Europe: The effect of societal gender equality and development

“…We expect that gender equality and human development stimulate men’s and women’s participation in non-exclusive gender-typed cultural activities as well because the time availability arguments used would hold for other leisure activities as well (Craig and Mullan, 2013; Webster et al, 2015) and because contemporary, urban cultural practices increasingly function as cultural capital, that is, ‘emerging forms of cultural capital’ (Prieur and Savage, 2013; Roose, 2015). A study on sport event attendance, which is cited as such an emerging form of capital (Roose, 2015), indicates that human development positively affects men’s and women’s attendance (Lagaert and Roose, 2016). Moreover, the gender gap in this masculine-typed activity is – similar to the feminine cultural activities studied here – smaller in gender-equal contexts (Lagaert and Roose, 2016).…”

“…A study on sport event attendance, which is cited as such an emerging form of capital (Roose, 2015), indicates that human development positively affects men’s and women’s attendance (Lagaert and Roose, 2016). Moreover, the gender gap in this masculine-typed activity is – similar to the feminine cultural activities studied here – smaller in gender-equal contexts (Lagaert and Roose, 2016).…”

Undoing the ‘Nordic Paradox’: Factors affecting rates of disclosed violence against women across the EU

“…Nonetheless, Eurobarometer data have been regularly used for scientific publications on a range of topics, including on gender and diversity [e.g. 71 , 72 , 73 ]. Eurostat is used as a source of information on crime, urban density or employment.…”