Title 11: Impact Of Gender In Sports Management Roles

Words: 1104
Pages: 5

Impact of Gender in Sports Management Roles
Jessica Thomulka
Seton Hall University

Submitted: November 17, 2015
Abstract
Before Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was passed, gender discrimination was a huge problem within collegiate athletics. Title IX is an anti-discrimination law which ensures equality in federally-funded athletic programs. This law made huge strides in the fight for gender equality but it only protects a small class of females: student athletes. There is no doubt that Title IX made progress in the fight against gender discrimination, however there are many areas in sports which still need improvement, one area of which is the representation of women in upper-level sports management positions.
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Today, we see women entering what society views as “male-dominated” professions such as science, business, and law at an increasing rate. This begs the question, is the gender gap in employment finally closing? It is known that women still only earn 77 cents to every dollar men in comparable positions earn, but what about representation? In terms of the number of women vs. men in non-managerial positions it seems like equality is right around the corner. For example, in testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, Andrew Sherrill reported that women comprise 49% of the non-manger positions studied, and in industries such as educational services and health care women make up 70% and 80% of the workforce, respectively (Sherrill, 2010, pg. 4). However this is not the case for managerial positions. He testified that only 38% of managerial positions in the industry of professional and business services are held by women. This statistic deserves careful consideration because “professional and business services” encompasses a large variety of employment opportunities including jobs in …show more content…
In an article published in the British Journal of Management it is argued that sports organizations have a “hyper-masculine and hegemonic culture that marginalizes women and minority groups” by nature (Spoor, 2013, pg. 407). This type of work environment is exactly what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 aimed to eliminate: “to limit, segregate, or classify its membership…in any way which would deprive…any individual of employment opportunities…because of such individual’s…sex…” (EEOC). The article argues further that “women are also more likely than men to reflect on the role of gender in their work experiences and, while men may acknowledge that sport organizations tend to be highly masculine they may not notice gender inequities or link those inequities to the organization’s masculine culture unless specifically asked to do so” (Spoor, pg. 408). It is evident from the hyper-masculine culture of the sports industry that gender issues may not even be considered to be a problem. This calls for further investigation into the root of the gender bias in sports management