Striving and thriving: Women in Chinese national sport organizations

Abstract

This paper examines women's position in the Chinese sports administration by studying three national sport organizations (NSOs). It is argued that the so-called gender-neutral promotion process is biased against female candidates and in the end serves the purpose of reinforcing a male-dominated upper management. Several key qualifications in evaluating candidates for promotion, such as a strategic vision, higher education and English ability, were deconstructed to unveil their embedded gender prejudice against women. It is argued that these factors play a role in explaining women's absence from senior leadership positions and their powerlessness in the national management hierarchy of Chinese sport.