Women in Sport Leadership

Although women and girls participate in sport in greater numbers than ever before, research shows there has been no significant increase in women leading sport organizations. This book takes an international, evidence-based perspective in examining women in sport leadership and offers future directions for improving gender equity. With contributions from leading international sport scholars and practitioners, it explores the opportunities and challenges women face while exercising leadership in sport organizations and evaluates leadership development practices.
While positional leadership is crucial, this book argues that some women may choose to exercise leadership in non-positional ways, challenging readers to consider their personal values and passions. The chapters not only discuss key topics such as gender bias, intersectionality, quotas, networking, mentoring and sponsoring, but also present a variety of strategies to develop and support the next generation of women leaders in sport. A new model of how to achieve gender equity in sport leadership is also introduced.
Women in Sport Leadership: Research and Practice for Change is important reading for all students, scholars, leaders, administrators, and coaches with an interest in sport business, policy and management, as well as women's sport and gender studies.

Laura J. Burton is an Associate Professor in Sport Management in the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, USA. Prior to completing her PhD, Laura worked as an athletic trainer from 1995 to 1998. Her research focus is on gender issues in sport leadership, including examining how stereotypes impact women in leadership. She currently serves as the Editor of the Journal of Intercollegiate Sport. Sarah Leberman is a Professor of Leadership and is the Dean Academic for Massey University, New Zealand. Her research focus is on women in leadership within sport and academia. She was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in 2007, which she tenured at the University of Minnesota, USA. She was a member of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Women in Sport Group and the Manager of the Women's Junior Black Sticks and Black Sticks teams.

1. Why This Book?: Framing the Conversation Around Women in Sport Leadership [Sarah Leberman and Laura J. Burton] 2. An Evaluation of Current Scholarship in Sport Leadership: Multilevel Perspective [Laura J. Burton and Sarah Leberman] 3. Institutionalized Practices in Sport Leadership [Nefertiti Walker, Claire Schaeperkoetter and Lindsey Darvin] 4. The Impact of Bias in Sport Leadership [Heidi Grappendorf and Laura J. Burton] 5. Intersectionality: The Impact of Negotiating Multiple Identities for Women in Sport Leadership [E. Nicole Melton and Michael J. Bryant] 6. Quotas to Accelerate Gender Equity in Sport Leadership: Do they work? [Johanna A. Adriaanse] 7. Young Women in Sport: Understanding Leadership in Sport [Vicki D. Schull] 8. Future Sport Leaders: Developing Young Women to Lead [Sarah Leberman] 9. Networking, Mentoring, Sponsoring: Strategies to Support Women in Sport Leadership [Janelle E. Wells and Meg G. Hancock] 10. New Leadership: Rethinking Successful Leadership of Sport Organizations [Laura J. Burton and Sarah Leberman] Appendix: Moving the Conversation Forward: Future Research Directions