Gendered networking in international sport governance

Piggott, LV; Matthews, JJK; Adriaanse, JA

Gendered networking in international sport governance

Piggott, LV Matthews, JJK Adriaanse, JA

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Publisher:: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Piggott, LV
dc.contributor.author	Matthews, JJK
dc.contributor.author	Adriaanse, JA
dc.date.accessioned	2025-08-06T04:32:07Z
dc.date.available	2025-08-06T04:32:07Z
dc.identifier.citation	EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY
dc.identifier.issn	1618-4742
dc.identifier.issn	1746-031X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189266
dc.description.abstract	We aim to develop a deeper understanding of gendered networking in international sport governance. Specifically, we examine the perceptions and experiences of networking amongst women and men senior postholders within international federations (IFs). We draw on interview data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with six men and six women British senior postholders across 12 different Olympic (n = 10) and Paralympic (n = 2) IFs. Networking was reported to be an instrumental factor in obtaining and maintaining a career in international sport governance. We present and discuss a ‘4 p’s typology’ that reflects and represents interviewees’ perceptions and experiences of the roles and mechanisms of networking: profile, place, purpose, and preference. We found that the roles and mechanisms of networking were complex and multi-faceted, spanning individual goals and strategies and group/organisational aims and processes. Furthermore, whilst men and women interviewees were mostly uniform in their perceptions of the roles and mechanisms of networking, there were clear gender differences in their experiences of, and outcomes from, networking. Overall, the findings from this paper demonstrate how influential and important networking is for both individual career advancement and organisational agendas and decisions. Given this, our findings on the gendered nature of networking can be problematic if already underrepresented women benefit less than men from valuable networking activities. We end the paper by providing some recommendations for future research and concrete short-term strategies that can be implemented to work towards gender-inclusive networking.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/16184742.2025.2522711
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1504 Commercial Services
dc.subject.classification	3504 Commercial services
dc.subject.classification	3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
dc.title	Gendered networking in international sport governance
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	1504 Commercial Services
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Business School
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Business School/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-08-06T04:32:06Z
pubs.publication-status	Published online

Abstract:

We aim to develop a deeper understanding of gendered networking in international sport governance. Specifically, we examine the perceptions and experiences of networking amongst women and men senior postholders within international federations (IFs). We draw on interview data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with six men and six women British senior postholders across 12 different Olympic (n = 10) and Paralympic (n = 2) IFs. Networking was reported to be an instrumental factor in obtaining and maintaining a career in international sport governance. We present and discuss a ‘4 p’s typology’ that reflects and represents interviewees’ perceptions and experiences of the roles and mechanisms of networking: profile, place, purpose, and preference. We found that the roles and mechanisms of networking were complex and multi-faceted, spanning individual goals and strategies and group/organisational aims and processes. Furthermore, whilst men and women interviewees were mostly uniform in their perceptions of the roles and mechanisms of networking, there were clear gender differences in their experiences of, and outcomes from, networking. Overall, the findings from this paper demonstrate how influential and important networking is for both individual career advancement and organisational agendas and decisions. Given this, our findings on the gendered nature of networking can be problematic if already underrepresented women benefit less than men from valuable networking activities. We end the paper by providing some recommendations for future research and concrete short-term strategies that can be implemented to work towards gender-inclusive networking.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189266