Women’s leadership and gender equality in sport governance: FISU leaders’ perceptions
Semenova, Anna (2020)
Semenova, Anna
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020061518717
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020061518717
Tiivistelmä
Despite a significant increase in opportunities for women to actively participate in sport, females remain underrepresented in sport leadership positions. The issue of gender inequality is global, but very few researchers studied female leadership in the context of the international sport governing bodies. The aim of the present study was to explore the current stage of women’s leadership and gender equality within the senior leadership positions at FISU - the International University Sports Federation.
Qualitative research was adopted for the study to serve its exploratory purpose. The primary data was collected by conducting five semi-structured in-depth interviews with three male and two female leaders at FISU. The research sample was chosen in accordance with purposive sampling method for selecting the interviewees to ensure that they can provide valuable insights on the topic based on their cultural and professional background. The collected primary data was then analyzed using content analysis method to narrow down the data and identify the most essential themes discussed by the respondents.
The primary data analysis indicated that current leaders recognise the issue of gender inequality in leadership positions at FISU as problematic. The findings revealed the reasons of gender inequality at FISU leadership, highlighted the need for both top-down and bottom-up changes in order to achieve the gender diversity on board, emphasized the importance of sharing the responsibility with all the members of the organisation and outlined the characteristics that make female leaders unique and valuable. Recommendations for further research included the expansion of a sample of research participants by approaching the leaders not only at FISU but also at the national university sports associations to understand the broader perspective on gender equality and women’s leadership across countries.
Qualitative research was adopted for the study to serve its exploratory purpose. The primary data was collected by conducting five semi-structured in-depth interviews with three male and two female leaders at FISU. The research sample was chosen in accordance with purposive sampling method for selecting the interviewees to ensure that they can provide valuable insights on the topic based on their cultural and professional background. The collected primary data was then analyzed using content analysis method to narrow down the data and identify the most essential themes discussed by the respondents.
The primary data analysis indicated that current leaders recognise the issue of gender inequality in leadership positions at FISU as problematic. The findings revealed the reasons of gender inequality at FISU leadership, highlighted the need for both top-down and bottom-up changes in order to achieve the gender diversity on board, emphasized the importance of sharing the responsibility with all the members of the organisation and outlined the characteristics that make female leaders unique and valuable. Recommendations for further research included the expansion of a sample of research participants by approaching the leaders not only at FISU but also at the national university sports associations to understand the broader perspective on gender equality and women’s leadership across countries.