Organizational Capacity for Implementing Women's Participation Initiatives in Sport Clubs
(2023) 31st European Sport Management Conference — Location: Belfast (12.September.2023)
Files
No attached file found for this publication.
Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- Aim and research question Women remain underrepresented in sport (Burton, 2015). To address this issue, grassroots sport clubs are urged by public policies to implement initiatives to increase women’s participation (Hanlon et al., 2019). Because of their position as the primary gateway for women into organized sport, sport clubs have a critical role in increasing women's participation. Therefore, there is a need to explore the factors influencing the implementation of women's participation initiatives by sport clubs to gain more knowledge of how to increase opportunities for women in sport. Among these factors, organizational capacity is essential in implementing diversity initiatives (Spaaji et al., 2018). However, little is known about the specific organizational capacity elements that affect the implementation of women's participation initiatives. Yet, as Doherty and Cuskelly (2019) stated, different organizational capacity elements might be needed depending on the specific goals, programs, or services (i.e., women participation initiatives) implemented. Therefore, identifying these elements is essential to understanding how sport clubs can strengthen their capacity to respond to the call to develop initiatives to make the sport more inclusive for women (Hanlon et al., 2019). Thus, this study examines the influence of elements of sport clubs’ organizational capacity on implementing initiatives to increase women's participation in sport. This research addresses the following question: “What are the specific elements of sport club organizational capacity that influence the implementation of initiatives to increase women's participation in sport?” Theoretical Background and Literature Review Organizational capacity, understood as the ability of an organization to acquire and mobilize resources to achieve its objectives, is a multidimensional concept (Hall et al., 2003). Based on the five organizational dimensions (i.e., human resources, finance, infrastructure, planning, and external relationship capacity) of Hall et al. (2003), Doherty and Cuskelly (2019) developed the Community Sport Capacity Scale. This scale measures 23 elements of organizational capacity in sport clubs and is therefore relevant to this study. In recent years, women's participation in sport has increasingly gained the interest of sport management researchers. Building on Millar and Doherty's (2016) model, Hanlon et al. (2019) recently investigated the ability of sport clubs to implement policies that aim to increase women’s participation in sport. Their results indicated a generally moderate level of capacity needed to implement initiatives to increase women’s participation. Also, their results indicated a difference in the capacity level across dimensions. For example, the highest capacity level was related to planning, while the lowest was to the financial dimension. In addition to highlighting the relevance of using the organizational capacity to examine the implementation of initiatives to increase women's participation, Hanlon et al. (2019) highlighted a strong readiness among sport clubs to build their capacity to support women's participation. However, to date, little is known about the specific key elements of organizational capacity that sport clubs should focus on. Research Design, Methodology, and Data Analysis An online survey was sent to representatives of all Walloon (Belgium) sport clubs (i.e., around 7000 sport clubs). Due to the GDPR, the exact number of clubs reached is impossible to determine. The questionnaire included questions about the gender composition of sport clubs, organizational capacity, and women's participation initiatives. Based on Hanlon et al. (2019), the survey also contained questions about the board’s perception of the importance of women’s participation. The scale of Doherty and Cuskelly (2019) measured the 23 elements of sport clubs’ organizational capacity. In total, 705 valid responses were received, representing an approximate response rate of 10% (similar to previous studies in the same context). Data is currently being analyzed using R. Three regression models will be developed, including the 23 organizational capacity elements as independent variables and the implementation of women's participation initiatives as a dependent variable. There will be one model targeting initiatives to increase participation as athletes, one as coaches, and one as leaders. Control variables such as the gender composition of the club and its size will be added to the models. Results/Findings and Discussion Findings are not yet available, but they will be available for presentation at EASM Conference 2023. Conclusion, Contribution, and Implication This research will contribute to our understanding of the role of organizational capacity in implementing women’s participation initiatives at the grassroots level. Other theoretical contributions, innovativeness of this study with regards to women's participation and organizational capacity, practical implications, and future directions will be discussed during the presentation.
- Affiliations
Citations
Lefebvre, A., & Zeimers, G. (2023). Organizational Capacity for Implementing Women’s Participation Initiatives in Sport Clubs. 31st European Sport Management Conference, Belfast.