Gender Allyship: Considering the Role of Men in Addressing the Gender-Leadership Gap in Sport Organizations

Abstract

Women’s underrepresentation in positions of leadership in sport organizations has been a persistent problem for sport organizations (Acosta & Carpenter, 2014; Lapchick, 2015, 2016, 2017a, 2017b). The gender-leadership gap has been extensively researched and has used a variety of frameworks (e.g., leadership/gender trait interaction, organizational culture) (e.g., Burton, Barr, Fink, & Bruening, 2009; Sartore & Cunningham, 2007; Shaw, 2006) to understand why women’s underrepresentation persists and have guided interventions to increase women’s representations (e.g., gender ratios, diversity strategies) (e.g., Claringbould & Knoppers, 2008, 2012). The current research has yet to inform a substantial change in women’s representation across the sport industry. Anecdotal evidence of men acting as allies to women in the sport industry challenges the existing literature, which does not include constructive roles for men in increasing women’s representation in leadership positions in the sport industry (e.g., Burton et al., 2009; Shaw & Penney, 2003). Allyship, a framework from the education and social justice literature, is a social change framework that includes members of dominant social groups as critical members in the pursuit of meaningful change (e.g., Bishop, 2002). The purpose of this study was to explore the existence of gender allyship within the sport industry, and if present, develop a substantive theory for how the process of gender allyship occurs. Given the limited perspectives of how men champion women’s leadership and how they work with women to achieve this goal, this was an exploratory study. This study was guided by a combined methodology of grounded theory and critical discourse analysis (CDA). Semi-structured interviews with 17 men and women in working in different types of sport organizations served as the primary source of data. An interview guide was used to capture allies’ insights into hiring processes and how organizational cultures that value gender equity are realized. Data analysis began with open and axial coding to define concepts and develop properties and dimensions (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Throughout data analysis, constant comparison and memos were utilized to ensure that the integrity of the study (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Finally, theoretical coding was performed to integrate categories into a substantive theory of gender allyship (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Findings indicated the existence of gender allyship in the sport industry, where male and female allies actively consider how to increase women’s representation in the sport industry. Three main categories were found that guide the process of gender allyship: awareness, capacity, and ally strategies. The process of gender allyship began with awareness, which is the core category. Awareness is defined as men’s and women’s understanding women’s low representation in leadership positions and their power to influence the hiring of women. Capacity is defined as how gender allies assess individual situations and determine their ability to act as a gender ally. Ally strategies are the intentional strategies that gender allies use to increase women’s representations in the sport industry. This study contributed to the allyship literature by demonstrating allyship’s application to gender and in professional environments. Additionally, this study contributes to the sport and gender leadership literature by demonstrating men’s contributions to the goal of increasing women’s representation in positions of power.