How does societal structure influence who leads in sport?

What is it about?

We started with a simple but important question: Why some countries have more women leading their national Olympic committees (NOCs) than others? Looking at 89 countries, the authors found that more democratic, more transparent, and wealthier countries tended to have more women in leadership positions in sport. When a society is open, fair, and prosperous, women generally have more opportunities to reach decision-making roles, and sport appears to reflect this. Religion also played a role, which is perhaps the most interesting finding. Countries with larger Protestant and Jewish populations were associated with greater women's representation on NOC boards. However, religion itself does not drive such outcomes; rather, the associated values, such as religious freedom, pluralism, and democratic and transparent social norms, appear to create environments where women can break the glass ceiling. That said, these trends should be read carefully, as there were exceptions. It is also worth noting that our findings relate to mainstream religious traditions and religiously unaffiliated populations and should not be generalised to manipulative or deceptive ideologies. No single macro-level factor tells the whole story. Our findings reflect broader trends across contemporary societal contexts rather than definitive answers or solutions. Looking ahead, researchers should go beyond counting women on boards and explore the actual impact of women as decision-makers in sport. A broader religious density index, instead of individual denominational breakdowns, and longitudinal data would help us better capture how these societal forces evolve independently over time and collectively influence women's pathways to the top of sport.

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash