# data[].attributes.body
How are women treated in the workplace of the sports industry?

# data[].attributes.body
What leads to the lack of representation of women in the sports industry?

# data[].attributes.body
How do women handle the treatment they receive while working in the sports industry?

# data[].attributes.body
How can the inclusion and representation of women in the sports industry be boosted?

# data[].attributes.headline
Source #3: "Behind the lens: How women photojournalists' experiences are impacted by gendered double standards and emotion management on the sidelines of the National Football League," Caylie M. Silveria, Thesis Paper, Scholarly Source

# data[].attributes.subject
Source #3: "Behind the lens: How women photojournalists' experiences are impacted by gendered double standards and emotion management on the sidelines of the National Football League," Caylie M. Silveria, Thesis Paper, Scholarly Source

# data[].attributes.headline
Source #2: “'You have to have thick skin': embracing the affective turn as an approach to investigating the treatment of women working in sports media," Guy Harrison, Journal Article, Scholarly Source

# data[].attributes.subject
Source #2: “'You have to have thick skin': embracing the affective turn as an approach to investigating the treatment of women working in sports media," Guy Harrison, Journal Article, Scholarly Source

# data[].attributes.headline
Source #5: "'Every Day Gets Better': The Rise of Women in Sports Media," Anna Katherine Clemmons, Article, Trade Source

# data[].attributes.subject
Source #5: "'Every Day Gets Better': The Rise of Women in Sports Media," Anna Katherine Clemmons, Article, Trade Source

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Rise of Women in Sports Media - Global Sport Matters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These interviews show women in sports media have more opportunities and face less prejudice than they did in previous eras.

# data[].attributes.headline
Source #1: "Strength in Numbers? the Experiences and Attitudes of Women in Sports Media Careers," Marie Hardin and Stacie Shain, Journal, Scholarly Source

# data[].attributes.subject
Source #1: "Strength in Numbers? the Experiences and Attitudes of Women in Sports Media Careers," Marie Hardin and Stacie Shain, Journal, Scholarly Source

# data[].attributes.headline
Source #4: "Increasing Female Representation in the Sports Business Industry," Janet S. Fink, Article, Popular Source

# data[].attributes.subject
Source #4: "Increasing Female Representation in the Sports Business Industry," Janet S. Fink, Article, Popular Source

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
American girls and women are participating in sports and physical activity more than ever before. Our female athletes dominate in international competition and women comprise nearly half of fans of major sport leagues. And yet, men still dominate the sports business industry.

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) produces a report card for gender and racial hiring amongst the major sport leagues and other sport industry categories. To receive an "A," an organization must employ 44.1 percent women, while 30.6 percent results in a "C," and less than 24 percent results in an "F."

The WNBA was the only organization that received an "A" in the latest report. The NBA received a "B," MLS a "C," NFL a "C+." Collegiate sports as a whole received a "C+," however, D1 FBS leadership and sports media received an "F."

A closer look at the data paints an even bleaker picture as the percentage of women in higher-level leadership positions in these organizations is much lower. Further, viewing the reports over the years shows that "progress" for women in sport leadership positions has been woefully slow.

Strong representation

The North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) is the academic governing body for those who study the sport industry and teach in sport management programs across North America. The purpose of this society is to "promote, stimulate, and encourage study, research, scholarly writing, and professional development in the area of sport management".

Given the statistics cited above regarding the sports industry, one might think men dominate the leadership of this organization, but that isn't true. While NASSM still has work to do in improving diversity and inclusion, since its inception in 1985, it has experienced strong female leadership as faculty members Janet Parks, Beverly Zanger, Joy DeSensi, and Janet Kootz were four of the organization's 11 founding members.

The organization has a greater percentage of male membership (57 percent), but women comprise nearly half of the current executive council, which was typical for past NASSM executive councils as well.

I am currently the editor-in-chief of the organization's top scholarly journal and I am the sixth woman (out of 12) who has served in this role. Similarly, our editorial board is nearly a 50-50 split between men and women. Additionally, our top academic award, the Zeigler, has been awarded 31 times and a female scholar won the award 15 of those times.

Empowering leadership

In such a male-dominated field, how has NASSM been able to accomplish this? The participation of strong, thoughtful female academics in the founding of NASSM certainly paved the way.

Further, each year our nominating committee is tasked to establish an equitable slate of candidates for each open position - thus, there are always women on the ballot. Because the executive board typically has a strong female presence, the women on the board feel comfortable voicing their perspective, which allows for greater thought diversity on issues relative to the organization.

In a move that seemed small at the time, one of our members, Heidi Grappendorf, founded a group called Women in NASSM (WIN) in 2004. In that inaugural year, there were 8 members - today there are over 300.

Grappendorf formed WIN as a knowledge-sharing and networking group, but it became much more than that. It is a group that makes NASSM feel much more inclusive and accessible for many members, particularly newer female members of the organization.

I realize our small academic organization is different from the sports organizations we study but it provides an example of an equitable sport organization in terms of gender. Many of our members have studied the lack of female leadership in sport organizations; the various causes and possible solutions, and to be sure, there are no "easy fixes."

But the sports industry needs to develop a greater sense of urgency around this situation as progress has been too slow given the other advancements made by women in sport. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to learn more about the research our members have conducted in this area.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Increasing Female Representation in the Sports Business Industry - Modern Wellness Guide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Participation is up for female athletes across the board in America, however, women are still vastly underrepresented in board rooms across the sports business industry. Dr. Janet S. Fink, executive committee member of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) writes about how her organization has achieved and maintained gender diversity, and what she has learned about the topic by studying it in other organizations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Source #7: "Sports Industry urged to 'wake-up' on gender inequality," Article, Trade Source

# data[].attributes.subject
Source #7: "Sports Industry urged to 'wake-up' on gender inequality," Article, Trade Source

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sports Industry urged to 'wake-up' on gender inequality

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A new report has been branded a "wake-up call" for employers and male colleagues after it identified that less than 1% of women working in the sports

# data[].attributes.body
Looking at the abstract, the first sentence lets readers know that this is a survey of women working in the sports media industry and the experiences they have endured. Through looking at the data in the study, factors looked at included experiences that discourage continuing the career path, the "liberal feminist assertion that more women working in sports media would lead to better coverage of female sports," and patriarchal environment factors. It is also said that from the people who completed the survey, it was found that they had begun to adopt "hegemonic values, [thus] making them more willing to accept their marginal status in the field and less likely to facilitate any change for the marginalized status of women's sports coverage." As discussed in the evaluation, there are 4 tables of data throughout the full PDF of the paper. They cover women's working conditions, job satisfaction, career change thoughts, and the thoughts of women's sports coverage in the media. After each table, the data is then discussed and explained in further detail.

# data[].attributes.body
This source/paper is a scholarly source. For one, it is an issue of a volume of a published journal in the Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly on Sage Journals. Looking at the authors, Marie Hardin is an Assistant Professor of Journalism & Associate Director at the Center for Sports Journalism at Pennsylvania State University. Stacie Shain was an instructor when the project began but is now an independent researcher in Kansas City. This paper/issue has an abstract and a long list of references at the end of it. Throughout it, there is a decent amount of statistics and tables (4 tables to be specific) from studies. The vocabulary in it is also of more complex words, much more business, and professional-sounding phrases and statements.

# data[].attributes.body
I thought this source was very insightful for this question and topic in general. It has a lot of data from the survey to back the conclusions of how women feel in the workplace in the sports industry. It shows more why women feel the way they do than how they handle the treatment. However, at least for me, I like to think that the reason behind is just as important as how they handle the treatment. This is some mention of handling since some data discusses how women feel about staying on the career path, which shows that for some, the treatment and inequality can just be a little too much. Which can force them to quit or feel like they will never make progress or break out of the treatment.

# data[].attributes.body
I thought this source was pretty interesting and insightful. I really liked how the author provided both information and findings from his research and interviews, but also about how he wanted to conduct the research and gave examples of information with explanations of them. It gave a lot of information from the author's research about the treatment that women have to endure while in the sports industry, thus, helping to answer the question above of how women are treated. There is also information as to how the women who receive this treatment feel about all of it, found through the interviews and research as well.

# data[].attributes.body
I really liked reading through this paper. I loved the focus of the paper being on photojournalists (photographers) in the NFL since that is basically what I want to do/be. The paper was extremely long, 59 pages total, which was definitely not fun to try to read (aka skim through), however, the parts I did read (like the abstract and some of the introduction) were very insightful. It addressed the gender standards of women working in sports as well as how the experience of working in that industry is affected for these women. It also covered many different aspects of experiences women had in the industry through interviews conducted in this study which definitely helped to answer the question. I thought it gave great real-world/life examples of the treatment that women receive while working in the NFL as photojournalists, so we know it is the actual information being told. Overall, I thought it gives great examples and evidence to the question of how are women treated in this field/industry.

# data[].attributes.body
I thought this article was easy to follow and full of good information relating back to my question. It covers the author's experiences while working in sports and then goes on to follow the same story format but with other women. While there is a brief section that includes a question being asked (what is being looked at in the article), most of it is just stories of discrimination and how these women still went on to do great things. It provides real examples of how women were able to persevere and how the treatment they received was not enough to hinder their drive for success in the field. Thus, setting themselves as role models for other women and what they want to accomplish in the sports industry.

# data[].attributes.body
I thought this source was pretty informational and helpful. It provided great statistics and overall just good information on the inclusion/representation of women in the workplace of professional sports leagues. It also discusses the path that NASSM has taken to have such inclusion/representation which seems very achievable/followable for other companies. The blueprint path is a great subject/topic of interest in this field as it is like a gold standard, to have that much inclusion/equality.

# data[].attributes.body
I thought this article was okay. I didn't really love it or hate it since it wasn't too long. I just thought it gave good statistics from a report, so it gives solid evidence of the equality, or lack thereof I guess, in the sports industry. While this source doesn't necessarily state the reason why the representation of women in sports is so low, it does give supporting data/numbers behind the lack of representation.

# data[].attributes.body
This source starts with a story of a woman leaving her sports reporting job because of many years of dealing with sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace. This story is used to show how much women have to deal with (in the treatment of their gender) in the sports industry. A big idea that "sports broadcasting maintain a structure in which women remain qualitatively and quantitatively marginalized due in part to the burden of affective labor" is brought up early on in the writing. The author then proposes "an approach to examining the constructed subjectivities of women working in sports media that not only discursively analyzes the representation of the industry’s women but also the psychosocial implications they must grapple with because of the industry’s (in)actions." From here, the author discussed the interviews he had during his research for this writing. He even found that women's advice to other women wanting to get into sports had to deal with being to take the treatment and harassment they are bound to receive, not about trying to make a change in the behavior/treatment or in bringing in more inclusion to the field. The concluding information we are given is that this treatment is not solely in the sports industry but many others as well, and, there needs to be an approach to look at and correct the treatment women see and to try to subdue the harassment by ending the normalization of it all.

# data[].attributes.body
The focus of this thesis paper/study is on the discrimination of women in the sports media world, specifically in the NFL as photojournalists. As a study, the gender wage gap is looked at, along with the expectations and treatment of women in the workplace. Within the abstract, all of this is mentioned, along with the conclusion of the study, which is "to ensure a better future for women in the NFL, more women need to be hired and more women need to be advocates for other women in the industry" (Silveria).

# data[].attributes.body
Although this article is quite short, it gives good statistics/trends that are seen and are present in the sports industry. The main point of the article is in the title, there is a "wake-up call" that is being pushed at employers in the sports industry about the inequality that is so heavily felt and seen in the field. A new report highlights how women feel about gender equality levels in the workplace through average scores and other ratios/statistics. It is also shown as an infographic in the middle/near-end of the article. The main/big statistics given were:

"The average score given by women working in sport for gender equality in the industry was only 4.63 out of 10."

"Half of the women in this research believe they are paid less than men for the same work."

"1 in 3 women feel that male gatekeepers and intimidating men working in sport were a barrier to entering sport."

# data[].attributes.body
This article, by Anna Katherine Clemmons, discusses multiple women who have made names for themselves in the sports industry, even after any bad or discriminatory events they might have experienced. Clemmons tells her own story of working in sports as a woman and how she persevered to stay in the industry and accomplish great things. She follows her own story with some statistics about the prejudice against women working in sports. She poses a question that is looked at throughout the article with the stories of the different famous women in sports. Clemmons then brings up a few stories of other well-known women who pushed through the stereotyping and gender discrimination they received and all their great accomplishments. These women include Christine Brennan, Arielle (Ari) Chambers, Andrea Kremer, Laura Okmin, and Melissa Stark.

# data[].attributes.body
In this article, the author, Dr. Janet Fink, discusses the representation of women in sports through a report that looks at and grades different professional sports leagues and their inclusion/employment of women (as well as minorities). A certain company in particular, the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), where she works, has almost half of its exec. council and editorial board comprised of women. The article then goes on to look at how NASSM has been successful with having such high amounts of women, especially in leadership positions.

# data[].attributes.body
This is a scholarly source. It is four specific pages out of an issue from a journal (Feminist Media Studies) and is published on/through Taylor and Francis Online. There is also a references section at the end that has a decent amount of sources. Also, there is a disclosure statement saying that there is no potential "conflict of interest" from the author. The author, Guy Harrison, has. Ph.D. in Journalism and Mass Communication with a dissertation (On the Sidelines: Postfeminism, Neoliberalism, and the American Female Sportscaster) and research areas (Constructions of gender and race in mass mediated-sport, sport on television and in film) relating to the sports industry.

# data[].attributes.body
This article/study is a scholarly source. It is a thesis paper written by a Master's Journalism student at West Virginia University. It includes a large amount of outside sources/references being cited, and it has been peer-reviewed by department heads within the Department of Journalism at West Virginia University. It includes things like an abstract, a table of contents, a conclusion, and a references section.

# data[].attributes.body
I would say this article is more of a popular source than a trade source. It is posted/published on a website that has nothing to do with the sports industry. It may be a more woman-based publication, but it is aimed at a much wider, broader public demographic. The author of this article, Dr. Janet Fink, does have experience in writing about sports-related issues/topics and is also a professor of Sport Management at UMass Amherst. However, as mentioned above, the website is not a website solely about sports or the sports industry. There is a tab/section on women in sports but the website also covers other topics as well.

# data[].attributes.body
This article is a trade source. For one, it is posted on Global Sport Matters, a "multimedia platform at the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University." This is a place where people, more specifically women, who are interested and enthusiasts of sports would come to find articles and posts to read. As well, the author, Anna Katherine Clemmons, is a highly experienced writer and reporter. She worked for ESPN for 17 years where she wrote, produced, and reported on many different stories in the sports world.

# data[].attributes.body
This article is a trade source. It showcases things in the criteria like what content is in it. It has statistics from a study/report about how women feel the equality level between men and women in the sports industry is. In these statistics shown in a graph, we can see a trend of how women feel in this industry. There really aren't any unrelated advertisements, only ones for other articles on the website relating to sports and the sports industry. There are only a few references to other sources, "The Voice of Women Working in Sport" and Women's Sport Collective. Another big point is that the article is on a website solely devoted to sports. The website is titled "Sporting Insights," it's focus is literally just on the insights into the sporting industry.

# data[].attributes.headline
Source #6: "Opinion: The sports industry should reduce stigma around women working in sports," Jessica Danesi, Article, Popular Source

# data[].attributes.subject
Source #6: "Opinion: The sports industry should reduce stigma around women working in sports," Jessica Danesi, Article, Popular Source

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Working in the sports industry is competitive, so it is no coincidence that most coaches, team owners and similar administrative positions are held by men. The sports industry must reduce the stigma surrounding women working in sports to increase equal opportunities.

Across the globe, men are hired more often than women in the sports industry. However, UNC Charlotte is a great example of women being involved in sports as a workforce in the same way that men are. For instance, Charlotte's football recruiting department is predominantly composed of women.

Kriston Guerra was an assistant sports information director (SID) and in football recruiting at Charlotte. She feels that Charlotte creates a welcoming environment for everyone.

"I was in media relations for the first nine months of being at Charlotte. I worked with all men in my office, and it was eight of them and just me," said Guerra. "Being a young woman going into that was very intimidating, but with Charlotte making it such a loving and family culture... they made it an easy transition for me."

On a national level, United States sports are dominated by men. There are only five active coaches in the NBA who are women. The 2022 NFL season employed who were women, which is a 25% increase since the 2021 season. These increases should continue to promote equal opportunity hiring based on talent rather than stereotypes.

One rare example of a female leader in sports is Sandra Douglass Morgan , who was also the first and only Black woman leading an NFL team. Morgan is of Black and Korean American descent, and she feels that her racial and gender identities left her at a disadvantage to a system that prioritized a more hegemonic demographic.

The stereotypes that prevent many women from working in sports depict women as people who either do not enjoy or understand sports. However, this is not true. Although gender socialization can isolate women from sports, many women have a passion for it and are knowledgeable about the industry.

Guerra believes her experiences as a woman working in sports have taught her how to speak up for herself. She recognizes the value of her opinions and the importance of vocalizing her ideas.

"Charlotte especially has grown me and shaped me into what I am today," said Guerra. "Working with men, they've taught me to have that tougher skin."

Reducing misogynistic stigma would create equal opportunities for all genders, hiring individuals based on expertise, talent and drive. Fields like sports journalism, coaching and team ownership would become more diverse.

Ultimately, the global sports industry should reflect Charlotte's example of women working in sports. Women are just as capable as men when it comes to understanding and loving sports. Therefore, they should be offered the same opportunities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Opinion: The sports industry should reduce stigma around women working in sports

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Working in the sports industry is competitive, so it is no coincidence that most coaches, team owners and similar administrative positions are held by men. UNC Charlotte has provided women

# data[].attributes.body
This article was decently interesting. I was hoping it would be a bit more insightful about the stigma and how to reduce it (the why was covered in it). And while yes it did have mentions, it was much more of a boost to UNC Charlotte and its athletic departments, which I guess makes sense since it is published on a website/publication that is a student-run news source for UNC Charlotte. However, it helped define the stigma and why it is present/alive in the sports industry. The article was again pretty short but I thought it covered a decent amount of information through it so it was pretty impressed.

# data[].attributes.body
The article starts off stating the obvious but also the main topic of interest in this article:

"Working in the sports industry is competitive, so it is no coincidence that most coaches, team owners and similar administrative positions are held by men. The sports industry must reduce the stigma surrounding women working in sports to increase equal opportunities."

It then goes on to discuss how UNC Charlotte is trying to combat the stigma and get more women involved. An example is given about a woman working in the football recruiting department (which is predominately women there at UNC Charlotte). Zooming out to a country-wide view, it is then talked about how there are little women in the coaching side of the NBA and NFL. While yes, there were increased over the years of representation, there still needs to be more. There is then another example given with a woman who is the "first and only Black woman leading an NFL team." Then, the stereotypes of women that prevent them from having higher representation is discussed, how it is commonly thought that women do not understand or like sports. The article concludes with a statement about how globally, UNC Charlotte is a prime example that other places should follow to get higher inclusion of women in the sports industry.

# data[].attributes.body
This article/source is a popular source. The website it is published/posted on is a website, Niner Times, that just covers more local type news from where it is based, which is UNC Charlotte. It is a student-run news publication so it covers things around campus and off-campus in the area. So, it is meant for a very large, general public audience of students at UNC Charlotte and people in the surround city (Charlotte, NC). The article is written by Jessica Danesi, who has written/published many other articles through Niner Times that mostly seem to be opinion articles, just like this one. While that does not mean the article does not have correct information and sources and evidence, it just is meant to mean it a little more biased and it is not just a news story. As well, this article was a pretty quick read without too much large/complex vocabulary. There is also no references page. There is only one advertisement in this ad but it is not related to the subject/topic, it is just for an art gallery event.