The continued underrepresentation of women in the senior governance and leadership of sport has been recognised by scholars and activists since the 1980s. Notwithstanding, there is limited contemporary understanding of the statistical representation of women in decision making positions in international sport governance as well as the gender and governance actions being undertaken by these organisations. These actions can include gender targets, gender quotas, gender election and recruitment rules, gender/equality/diversity/inclusion-focused groups, official documents that make reference to gender and governance, and the support offered to Women’s Leadership Development Programmes.
Commissioned by UK Sport, this research analysed gender representation in the governance of 60 international sport organisations and explored the prevalence and nature of their existing gender equity policy and actions. The organisations were categorised into six groups: International Multi Sport Organisations; Continental Olympic Committees/Councils; Continental Paralympic Committees/Councils; Summer Olympic International Federations (IFs) that are members of ASOIF; Winter Olympic IFs that are members of AIOWF; and International Paralympic Committee-recognised IFs. Data were gathered from extensive and focused trawls of the websites and official documents and publications of these organisations.
Our findings demonstrate how a) there continues to be a significant underrepresentation of women within decision-making positions in international sport organisations, b) it is not the prevalence but the nature of gender and governance actions that are most important, and c) some groups of organisations require more support than others in implementing effective gender and governance action measures. This presentation explores these findings in more detail and offers insight into what changes are required by international sport organisations to improve gendered governance.