The policy-implementation gap. Women are not a homogenous group. And are sport federations ready to change? These were the key takeaways from the “Every woman is welcome in sport webinar – are they” which took place on 4 March 2024 as part of the Gap Women project.

The webinar marked the kick off the GAP Women project #Women’s Day campaign, promoting women’s participation in sport. The event presented also the main learnings from EWS 2023 research and shared the “Change readiness” research and good practices from the CHANGE project.  

The moderator of the webinar and EWS Chair Sallie Barker welcomed the participants with a question “Do all women have equal access, opportunities and experience in sport?”  Each of the three presentations that followed addressed this question.

Within the framework of the GAP Women project, Zohreh Abdollahkhani tackled the topic of the policy-implementation gap and offered a critical analysis of IOC gender equality policies. She shared insights from her research about the Olympic Games and participation of women on all levels: from athletes, referees, coaches, volunteers and other personnel.  

Zohreh Abdollahkhani is a PhD research fellow in gender, sport and sustainability at the University of South Eastern Norway. She also has a Master in global sport management from Seoul National University. Zohreh is also a Former member of the Iranian ice climbing team. 

By sharing the latest findings from ENGSO Equality Within Sport Committee research, Angelica Saenz explained the importance of the intersectional approach and taking into account six socio-demographic aspects: age, gender identity, sexual orientation, migrant background, disability and social status. This enabled her to have a deeper look into the experiences women in sport. The results of the research can be read here.  

Angélica Sáenz is a PhD student at the Faculty of physical activity and sport sciences at the University of Valencia. She is currently researching about sexual and gender diversity in physical education and sport. For EWS Committee, Angelica conducted a study on women’s participation in sport. 

The webinar concluded with a new question “Are sport federations ready to change?”. ENGSO project manager Lovisa Broms presented the key findings from the research conducted within the framework of the CHANGE project which addressed the Challenges and Change Readiness in Grassroot Sport- The research was implemented by the project partner Malmö University and is available here: read the research. EWS Vice Chair Tarja Krum moved from the research to good practices of sport clubs and organisations that were ready to change and successfully included inclusion strategy into their functioning.

Watch the webinar at Re-watch the “Every woman is welcome in sport – are they?” webinar (engso.eu).