Leadership Research Summary:
- Women remain minimally represented in senior leadership roles in sport, despite increased female participation in both sport, sport management education programs, and in entry levels positions in the industry. Many women prematurely exit mid-level leadership positions in sport, or are often overlooked for senior leadership positions. To uncover the experiences and strategies of women who made it through the process, the study interviewed all the women (N = 7) who now hold senior leadership positions with professional sport properties in Canada. Participants revealed they overcame real and perceived barriers, and they suggested women seeking senior leadership roles in the industry: (a) find, and later become role models, mentors, and sponsors; (b) create access to networks and opportunities; (c) strategically self-promote, and; (d) purposefully build a varied career portfolio. Recommendations for the industry and all those who work in the industry are presented with a goal to break the cycle and help ensure more equitable and inclusive leaders in the senior leadership ranks.
Leadership Research Implications and Findings:
- Theoretical and practical implications manifested as all the women working in vice president positions of professional sport teams in Canada recounted their lived experiences and offered advice to the next generation. One of the main contributions to the sparse sport career development research that has historically been focused on the context of American collegiate athletics was the professional sport context in Canada. Based on the career trajectory of all the women vice presidents, our research extended the sponsorship literature in sport (Darvin et al., 2019) and revealed how the intricacies of career construction extend beyond one event or experience (Savickas, 2005).
- Sports organizations must foster a workplace culture that is supportive of women who aspire to senior leadership positions. Sponsors and mentors also need to be acknowledged and rewarded by their organizations. Sport organizations need to create an environment that supports and rewards leadership for both men and women. “Recognition of sponsorship is likely to increase the number of senior leaders willing to spend time sponsoring more junior colleagues” (Block and Tietjen-Smith, 2016, p. 310). Weiner and Burton (2016) noted that both men and women view effective leadership as having a communal orientation through reinforcing the importance of workplace collaboration, capacity building and shared decision-making. These elements are the tenets of current thinking in leadership (Weese, 2018) and according to Gerzema and D’Antonio (2013) and Deane et al. (2015), women perform better than men in these critical leadership areas. For example, women and men are indistinguishable in other key leadership areas (e.g., intelligence, innovation), however, women are stronger in critical areas like compassion and organizational skills. The same research base confirms that women, compared to men, are perceived as being more honest and trustworthy, attributes that are also critical to leadership success (Weese, 2018).
- Professional sport organizations would be well-served in employing higher proportions of women in senior leadership roles. A vast amount of leadership talent is defecting, and a significant demographic is being overlooked. Why would any organization willfully neglect 50% of the population, especially when research suggests superior results from result from a more inclusive leadership group (Desvaux et al., 2007; Zenger and Folkman, 2012; Young, 2015). Change may be coming according to some, but according to the study participants and the women in sport leadership literature base, it is unfolding at a snail’s pace, all in spite of affirmative action laws and employment equity legislation (Lough and Grappendorf, 2007). The male-dominate and prominent sports domain may warrant heightened affirmative action to make significant change (Burton, 2015) to break the cycle and create more female role models, mentors, and sponsors for the next generation of women interested in a career in senior leadership in sport. Vice President #1 reminded us that “We are making progress, but not at the rate we should.