For many years now, women have been pushed to the periphery regarding managerial positions in many institutions. This has been a result of restrictions that were imposed on women, thus hindering their upward mobility. On the same note, there have been different types of discrimination directed towards women.
Whenever administrative managers are named, people are used to hearing men being called out. This has also been the case in sports where various factors deter the chances of women to get to administrative positions.
To begin with, there has been masculine supremacy in the sports field, with men dominating almost all sections. In this regard, the need to maintain the status quo has kept women out of the question whenever a selection is made.
On the same note, people have a tendency to use connections to get into positions of leadership in most sectors of the economy (Northouse, 2009). In the sports field also, people favor those who are close to them or those with whom they have something in common.
Women lack the essential connections that will enable them to climb the ladder to administrative positions. Moreover, horizontal segregation is quite common in the sports field. People still have the perception that women cannot properly run sports departments. Consequently, women have been segregated when it comes to hiring or even promotions in the sports sector.
Furthermore, the sports sector has been taken to be a demanding masculine field that requires somebody who has enough time to be an administrator. Unfortunately, society takes women to be people who should take care of children and thus do not have enough time for administrative roles (Rosner & Shropshire, 2011).
On the same note, women are given few opportunities as management interns in sports compared to men. As a result, women always lack the experience that is required for administrative posts (Daft, 2008).
The hiring process is also biased in favor of men, thus limiting the chances of women advancing. Unlike men, women lack the necessary motivation and support whenever they decide to join sports. Due to the lack of opportunities to be trained, women lack the necessary training required to join administrative positions in sports (Rosner & Shropshire, 2011).
It should be noted that it is not only women who face challenges in their endeavors to be sports administrators. The problem of getting the opportunity to join a management internship is common to men and women alike. On the same note, the problem of connections is rampant, and it makes many people miss vital opportunities (Daft, 2008). Similarly, it is difficult to get the necessary mentorship, which is crucial in motivating people.
To ensure that women get their fair share in sports administration, it is important to have a level competing for ground. Firstly, it is important to do away with the gender stereotype that women cannot hold administrative positions in sports. Research has proved that the claims of people that women are not good in some fields are lies.
Women are able to do what men can do (Northouse, 2009). On the same note, equality should be practiced both in hiring and allocating internship opportunities to ensure that women can compete on the same ground as men. Moreover, rules should be implemented to prevent those in management positions from promoting or hiring people on the grounds of connection and do it on merit.
References
Daft, R. L. (2008). The Leadership Experience. Stanford: Cengage Learning.
Northouse, P. G. (2009). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage publishers.
Rosner, S. & Shropshire, K. (2011). The Business of Sports. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.