Women in Rugby Union: there's barriers to progression, but optimism for change
Read more about some research that seeks to understand the reality of women working within rugby union
Women of Union recently released some research they produced with Leeds Beckett University.
Its aim was to understand the experiences and motivations of women working in rugby. The research was compiled by the Centre of Social Justice for Sport and Society and the team included Dr Anna Stodter and Professor Leanne Norman (plus my own DProf supervisor Nicola Clarke).
The majority of respondants worked in ‘rugby coaching and player development’ and ‘marketing/creative/sponsorship’.
Overall, women identified challenges but were positive about making a difference and creating change.
This does match my own experiences. There are numerous challenges to being a woman working within rugby. However, I am positive about the direction of travel. It’s vital that the World Cup and it’s legacy moves the dial for the wider workforce.
72% of respondants agreed or strongly agreed that women have to be better at their jobs than their male colleagues in order to succeed.
85% are optimistic about prospects for women within the rugby union workforce.
92% believe more can be done to improve opportunities for women in the game.
9% of respondants were from a Black or Global Majority backgrounds, highlighting the lack of ethnic diversity in the workforce
Challenges
The report goes into some challenges that women face. This includes gender stereotyping. Women often reported that men didn’t take them seriously. They felt undervalued or overlooked in favour of male colleagues.
Respondants also reported a number of discriminations including: "experiences of gendered and racialised micro-aggressions, ageism, physical and verbal harassment, patronising behaviour, and access discrimination.”
This also mirrors some of my experiences. I have experienced both macro and micro aggressions. This includes verbal abuse, being patronised, ignored and dismissed.
Family circumstances was another challenge that prominently occured within the survey results. The combination of high workload, travel, relocation with women still undertaking the majority of childcare and household work. Combined with this, there’s also a lack of resources, finances, and progression: “Unclear, slow, or limited routes for career progression and limited resources across all levels of the game hampered women’s career development across varied professional roles.” This raises serious questions of sustainability.
Another challenge that was a common theme was cultural challenges. There is a lack of diversity within our sport, especially within senior leadership. This led to women reporting the following experiences: “outdated perceptions, resistance to change, intersectional barriers related to race and religion and the varied geographical contexts which influenced women’s experiences.”
Are there opportunities?
The women that responded to the survey state that more needs to be done to drive change but there is a sense of optimism. Women of Union and Leeds Beckett have four themes that they’ve identified through the research that can help drive change:
Employment arrangements and continuing professional development
Actively building a team around you
Sharing knowledge of the landscape and wider insights
Openness to make change happen
Participants in the research identified the need for flexibility, this includes the freedom to shape their own role and to be allowed/encouraged to develop. There also needs to be more of a transparent recruitment process within the sport.
Developing a supportive network is key. This includes people who can use for advice and those who will champion you.
As this research shows, we also need to share information about the realities of working within the sport and the different roles.
I’m proud to say I played a very small part in this research. As a committee member of Women of Union and a DProf student at Leeds Beckett, this research is vital to understanding the current landscape for a female workforce.
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