Gender equality in the governance of sport: in Teramo an international project supported by GIBA

The main objective of the project is to promote the presence of women in the governing bodies of sports federations and associations.

of The Editor, 8 February 2018, 14:29

A researcher at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Teramo addresses the issue of gender equality in the governance of sports organizations as part of an Erasmus + research project, funded by the European Commission, which involves five European countries.

The main objective of the project is to promote the presence of women in the governing bodies of sports federations and associations, in line with the Erasmus + Sport program. The project aims to identify effective tools for promoting gender balance within these bodies.

Participants in the project “Corporate governance in sport organizations: A gendered approach (GESPORT)” the professors: Tiziana Di Cimbrini (University of Teramo, Italy); Luisa Esteban, project coordinator (University of Zaragoza, Spain); Charlotte Smith (Business School of the University of Leicester, United Kingdom); Emilia Fernandes (University of Minho, Portugal); Gonca Güngör Göksu (University of Sakarya, Turkey).

The project started on January 1, 2018, foresees a duration of three years and will end on December 31, 2020. Last week the first transnational meeting was held at the University of Zaragoza. The research aims to explore how much and how women are represented in the decision-making bodies of the sports organizations of the five partner countries of the project, in order to promote the presence of women in the centers of power of sport.

Professor Tiziana Di Cimbrini stated: “The Italian legislative system, compared to that of other countries, has shown a good sensitivity towards the issue of gender equality. Just think about how our Constitution is attentive in this sense, our Code of Equal Opportunities between Man and Woman and the introduction of gender quotas on the boards of companies listed on the stock exchange. This sensitivity, however, is not adequately reflected in the world of Italian sport in which, as a recent journalistic investigation, he noted: “Women win but do not count”. There are still very few studies on the presence of women in sports governing centers. This research project can help women aspiring to a career in sports organizations to undermine the male monopoly ».
Professor Luisa Esteban, coordinator of the project, said: “Understanding how much and how women are represented in the governing bodies of European sports organizations, can identify which gender policies to undertake and which ones to improve, both the level of the European Union and in individual member countries, to increase female participation at the top of sports organizations. Making women’s experiences visible, the roles held in governing bodies, the governance models adopted in their sports organizations, and, finally, the difficulties and obstacles they encounter in their professional lives, can help other women make their way
in the centers of power “.

In a first phase, the project will carry out a survey of the female presence in the governing bodies of the sports organizations in each of the five countries concerned through field research and the construction of a database. Subsequently, interviews will be carried out to learn from the experiences of women who have managed to reach top positions in sports organizations or who can however contribute to the identification of best practices.

The project involves the organization of an international competition for the creation of a logo, a summer school and an international conference. The project, whose total cost is 320.511 euros, is published on the EU Erasmus + platform at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/projects/eplus-project-details/#project/d6bff2ea-5dbb-49b2-aebb-9f172154cdbe

The video of the press conference held at the University of Zaragoza can be viewed at the following link: https://ecodeteruel.tv/presentacion-del-proyecto-europeo-gesport-en-el-campus-de-la-universidad-en-teruel