Abstract
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, we 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.
Highlights
Diversity in organizations, and in particular, gender diversity has positive and tangible benefits to organizational performance, organizational culture, morale, and colleague motivation (Li and Nagar, 2013; Sheppard, 2018)
Researchers in this study gathered and deconstructed the insights, experiences, and suggestions of the women who advanced to these roles with hopes that their strategies would help other women progress to senior leadership roles in the industry
Following Savickas’ Career Constructive Theory (2005), these women graciously shared their perspectives and insights that might help other women progress to senior leadership roles in the industry
Summary
In particular, gender diversity has positive and tangible benefits to organizational performance, organizational culture, morale, and colleague motivation (Li and Nagar, 2013; Sheppard, 2018). Other researchers (Eagly, 2007; Johansen, 2007) have determined that when women are more proportionately represented in decision-making roles, their organizations have higher levels of performance, an enhanced public image, greater levels of employee satisfaction, higher levels of financial performance, and lower turnover levels. This may be due in part to women bringing diverse perspectives to decisions and/or contributing unique and creative ideas (Desvaux et al, 2007).
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