Sports participation and leadership: Gender and nationality disparities in Spain

Laburpena

Being physically active and engaging in sports activities are critical for improving health-,
social-, and economic-related outcomes. Despite years of policy efforts, physical inactivity remains
high, especially among specific demographic groups. This study focuses on gender and
nationality differences in Spain. We use data from the 2020 Survey of Sporting Habits in Spain
to perform a descriptive analysis of sports participation and examine its correlates. The results
show that women and foreign nationals are less likely to practice sports. Additionally, we collect
information from the High Council for Sports to examine women's representation in leadership
positions in sports from 2016 through 2021. Despite recent increases following policy efforts,
women remain a minority in all analyzed positions. We discuss the managerial implications of
our findings for public policy and reflect on future research directions in this area.

Gako-hitzak:

Gender, Nationality, Leadership, Participation, Sports

Erreferentziak

Agergaard, S., Michelsen la Cour, A., & Gregersen, M. T. (2016). Politicisation of migrant

leisure: A public and civil intervention involving organised sports. Leisure studies,

(2), 200-214.

Andersen, M. H., Ottesen, L., & Thing, L. F. (2019). The social and psychological health

outcomes of team sport participation in adults: An integrative review of research. Scandinavian

Journal of Public Health, 47(8), 832-850.

Burrmann, U., Mutz, M., & Zender, U. (2015). Jugend, Migration und Sport - Kulturelle

Unterschiede und die Sozialisation Zum Vereinssport. Wiesbaden: Springer.

Burton, L. J. (2015). Underrepresentation of women in sport leadership: A review of research.

Sport Management Review, 18(2), 155-165.

Buser, M., Zwahlen, J. A., Schlesinger, T., & Nagel, S. (2022). Social integration of people

with a migration background in Swiss sport clubs: A cross-level analysis. International

Review for the Sociology of Sport, 57(4), 597-617.

Cabane, C., & Lechner, M. (2015). Physical activity of adults: A survey of correlates, determinants

and effects. Journal of Economics and Statistics, 235(4-5), 376-402.

Consejo Superior de Deportes (2019). Resolución de la Presidencia del CSD, por la que se

convocan ayudas a las Federaciones Deportivas Españolas para el año 2019. Retrieved

from: https://sede.csd.gob.es/oficinavirtual/Pdf/051210_2019_Resolucion_convocatoria.

pdf

Cunningham, G. B. (2020). The under-representation of racial minorities in coaching and

leadership positions in the United States. In S. Bradbury, J. Lusted, and J. van Sterkenburg

(Eds), Race, Ethnicity and Racism in Sports Coaching (pp. 3-21). New York,

NY: Routledge.

Cunningham, G. B., Wicker, P., & Kutsko, K. (2021). Gendered racial stereotypes and coaching

intercollegiate athletic teams: The representation of Black and Asian women coaches

on US women's and men's teams. Sex Roles, 84, 574-583.

Darvin, L., Pegoraro, A., & Berri, D. (2018). Are men better leaders? An investigation of

head coaches' gender and individual players' performance in amateur and professional

women's basketball. Sex Roles, 78, 455-466.

Darvin, L. (2020). Voluntary occupational turnover and the experiences of former intercollegiate

women assistant coaches. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 116, 103349.

Day, J. C., & McDonald, S. (2010). Not so fast, my friend: Social capital and the race disparity

in promotions among college football coaches. Sociological Spectrum, 30(2),

-158.

Downward, P., Lera-López, F., & Rasciute, S. (2011). The Zero-Inflated ordered probit

approach to modelling sports participation. Economic Modelling, 28(6), 2469-2477.

Downward, P., Lera-López, F., & Rasciute, S. (2012). The economic analysis of sport participation.

In L. Robinson, P. Chelladurai, G. Bodet, P. Downward, Routledge Handbook

of Sport Management (pp. 331-354). Routledge, London.

Elling, A., & Claringbould, I. (2005). Mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in the Dutch

sports landscape: Who can and wants to belong? Sociology of Sport Journal, 22(4), 498-

European Commission (2022). Sport. For community cohesion and social inclusion. Retrieved

from: https://sport.ec.europa.eu/policies/sport-and-society/physical-activity-and-health

European Union (2022). Special Eurobarometer 472. Retrieved from: https://sport.ec.europa.

eu/news/new-eurobarometer-on-sport-and-physical-activity

García, J., Lera-López, F., & Suárez, M. J. (2011). Estimation of a structural model of the

determinants of the time spent on physical activity and sport: Evidence for Spain. Journal

of Sports Economics, 12(5), 515-537.

García, J., Muñiz, C., Rodríguez, P., & Suárez, M.J. (2016). Comparative analysis of sports

practice by types of activities. International Journal of Sport Finance, 11(4), 327-348.

Gomez-Gonzalez, C., Dietl, H., & Nesseler, C. (2019). Does performance justify the underrepresentation

of women coaches? Evidence from professional women's soccer. Sport

Management Review, 22(5), 640-651.

Gomez-Gonzalez, C., Nesseler, C., & Dietl, H. M. (2021). Mapping discrimination in Europe

through a field experiment in amateur sport. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications,

(1), 1-8.

Khan, K. M., Thompson, A. M., Blair, S. N., Sallis, J. F., Powell, K. E., Bull, F. C., & Bauman,

A. E. (2012). Sport and exercise as contributors to the health of nations. The Lancet,

(9836), 59-64.

Kokolakakis, T., Lera-Lopez, F., & Panagouleas, T. (2012). Analysis of the determinants of

sports participation in Spain and England. Applied Economics, 44(21), 2785-2798.

Lee, W., & Cunningham, G. B. (2019). Group diversity's influence on sport teams and organizations:

A meta-analytic examination and identification of key moderators. European

Sport Management Quarterly, 19(2), 139–159.

Lefèvre, B., Routier, G., Llopis-Goig, R. (2020). Sports participation in France and Spain:

An international comparison of voraciousness for sport. Poetics, 81, 101429.

Lera-López, F., & Suárez, M. J. (2019). Práctica deportiva y políticas públicas en el deporte

en España. Papeles de Economía Española, 159, 226-240.

López, A. R., & del Arco, F. J. (2014). Organización y funcionamiento de las federaciones

deportivas españolas. Revista Aranzadi de Derecho de Deporte y Entretenimiento, 42,

-135.

Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (1991). Real Decreto 1835/1991, de 20 de diciembre,

sobre Federaciones deportivas españolas. BOE-A-1991-30862. Retrieved from: https://

www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1991-30862

Ministerio de Sanidad (2022). Actividad física para la salud y reducción del sedentarismo.

Retrieved from: https://www.sanidad.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/prevPromocion/

home.htm

Muñiz, C., Rodríguez, P., & Suárez, M. J. (2014). Sports and cultural habits by gender: An

application using count data models. Economic Modelling, 36, 288-297.

Nesseler, C., Gomez-Gonzalez, C., Dietl, H., & del Corral, J. (2020). Race and employment:

The historical case of head coaches in college basketball. Frontiers in Sociology,

, 1-16.

Nesseler, C., Gomez-Gonzalez, C., & Gasparetto, T. (2021). Head coach tenure in college

women's soccer. Do race, gender, and career background matter? Sport in Society, 24(6),

-989.

Sartore, M. L., & Cunningham, G. B. (2007). Explaining the under-representation of women

in leadership positions of sport organizations: A symbolic interactionist perspective.

Quest, 59(2), 244-265.

Scheerder, J., Vanreusel, B., & Taks, M. (2005). Stratification patterns of active sport involvement

among adults: Social change and persistence. International Review for the Sociology

of Sport, 40(2), 139-162.

Strandbu, Å., Bakken, A., & Sletten, M. A. (2019). Exploring the minority–majority gap in

sport participation: different patterns for boys and girls? Sport in Society, 22(4), 606-624.

Valiente, C. (2022). The impact of gender quotas in sport management: The case of Spain.

Sport in Society, 25(5), 1017-1034.

van Haaften, A. F. (2019). Ethnic participation in Dutch amateur football clubs. European

Journal for Sport and Society, 16(4), 301-322.

van Tuyckom, C., Scheerder, J., & Bracke, P. (2010). Gender and age inequalities in regular

sports participation: A cross-national study of 25 European countries. Journal of Sports

Sciences, 28(10), 1077-1084.

Warburton, D. E., & Bredin, S. S. (2017). Health benefits of physical activity: a systematic

review of current systematic reviews. Current Opinion in Cardiology, 32(5), 541-556.

WHO, World Health Organisation. (2018) Global action plan on physical activity 2018-

: More active people for a healthier world. Retrieved from: https://apps.who.int/

iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272722/9789241514187-eng.pdf

Wicker, P., & Kerwin, S. (2022). Women representation in the boardroom of Canadian sport

governing bodies: Structural and financial characteristics of three organizational clusters.

Managing Sport and Leisure, 27(5), 499-512.

Wooldridge, J. M. (2010). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. (2nd ed).

MIT Press.

Zacheus, T. (2010). The significance of sport and physical activity during the acculturation

and integration process of immigrants in Finland–the experts' view. European Journal

for Sport and Society, 7(2), 155-166.