The impact of gender quotas in sport management: the case of Spain

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of gender quotas on sport management by analyzing the gender quota established in 2014 in Spain on boards of national sport federations (of at least three women or 33% of board members). Drawing on published and on-line documents and eighty-six interviews of female and male federation board members, I find that the Spanish gender quota increased the proportion of women board members (but not the proportion of women federation presidents). Economic sanctions for non-compliance made the quota effective. The quota had the effect within federations of making gender inequality more visible. Thus, this research concludes that gender quotas have substantial consequences for sport management other than the numerical increment of women managers.

Corporate governance in sports organizations: A gendered approach. Final report 2022

“…Therefore, we can affirm that in positions that do not require quotas, female presence is generally less. In the case of presidency, we agree with Valiente (2022Valiente ( , p. 1032 when she states, "Undoubtedly, a quota regulating elected positions would have been more difficult to implement be-cause this quota affects electoral processes implicating the whole sports organisation". Still, other factors could affect their eligibility, such as discriminatory norms, values, institutional practices, attitudes, gender stereotypes, education, networks/contacts, resources, and family ties with influential people in the federation.…”

“…Gender quotas in sport: the case of Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the UK Gender quotas were examined in the literature in the context of different countries. Gender quota on sports boards to gain subsidies was analysed in Spain (Valiente, 2022)I find that the Spanish gender quota increased the proportion of women board members (but not the proportion of women federation presidents. In Norway, Sisjord et al (2017) with particular attention to the composition of executive boards.…”

El gobierno corporativo en las organizaciones deportivas: un enfoque de género. Informe final 2022

“…En España se analizaron las cuotas de género en las juntas directivas de las federaciones nacionales deportivas para obtener subvenciones (Valiente, 2022). En Noruega, se analizó el impacto de las cuotas de género para igualar la representación de género en los órganos de gobierno del Comité Olímpico y Paralímpico Noruego y de la Confederación del Deporte (Sisjord et al, 2017).…”

“…Por lo tanto, podemos afirmar que en los cargos que no requieren cuotas, la presencia femenina es generalmente menor. En el caso de la presidencia, estamos de acuerdo con Valiente (2022Valiente ( , p. 1032) cuando afirma: "Sin duda, una cuota que regule los cargos electivos hubiera sido más difícil de implementar porque esta cuota afecta a procesos electorales que implican a toda la organización deportiva". Aun así, hay otros factores que podrían afectar a su elegibilidad, como las normas discriminatorias, los valores, las prácticas institucionales, las actitudes, los estereotipos de género, la educación, las redes/contactos, los recursos y los vínculos familiares con personas influyentes en la federación.…”

Analysis of gender equality policies on the boards of directors of national sports federations: an exploratory analysis: survey report

“…Gender quota in sports boards is another important research topic that has attracted the attention of various researchers. Gender quotas in sports governance were examined in Spain (Valiente, 2022), in Norway (Marchiori et al, 2017;Sisjord et al, 2017), and in Australia (Adriaanse & Schofield, 2014).…”