Women in International Elite Athletics

Gender (in)equality and National Participation

Dados Bibliográficos

ID5284730
AutoresH E Meier (0000-0002-5852-4814, University of Münster, autor correspondente), Mara Verena Konjer, Mara Konjer (0000-0002-2276-914X, University of Münster), Judith Krieger (0000-0002-9157-0783, Aarhus University), Jörg Krieger
Ano2021
Volume3
Páginas709640-709640
Data de publicação2021-08-27
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoFrontiers in Sports and Active Living (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2624-9367 • E-ISSN: 2624-9367
EditoraFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fspor.2021.709640
PMID34514387
OpenAlexW3197913560
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas33

Gender discrimination has been strongly related to the suppression of women's participation in sport. Accordingly, gender (in)equality has proven to be an important determinant for the participation and the success of countries in international women's elite sport. Hence, differences in gender (in)equalitity, such as women's participation in the labor force, fertility rates, tradition of women suffrage or socio-economic status of women, could be linked to success in international women's elite sports. While major international sport governing bodies have created programs to subsidize the development of women's sports in member countries, gender equality has figured rather low within the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) (now World Athletics). Therefore, the paper examines the impact of gender (in)equality on country participation in international athletics on the base of a unique dataset on season's bests. The results provide further support that gender inequality matters and is associated with participation in women's elite sports. Whereas, women's participation in athletics has made considerable progress in the past two decades as a side-effect of the IAAF's decentralization strategy, the analyses illustrate the need for better targeted and better resourced development programs for increasing participation of less gender equal countries. Moreover, the analyses indicate the limitations of a pure macro-social approach as there are some rather unexpected dynamic developments, such as, the substantial progress of women's athletics in the Islamic Republic of Iran as a country with strong Muslim religious affiliation. The results from this analysis were used to provide practical implications

Amateur · China · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Elite · Gender analysis · Gender equality · Gender mainstreaming · Inequality · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports Analytics and Performance · Sports, Gender, and Society