Balancing the Board Benefits of having gender balance on state sport and active recreation boards
The Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (OWSR) is the first dedicated office designed to improve gender equality in sport and recreation in Australia. 'Change Our Game' is a call to action from the Victorian Government to increase the number of women and girls participating in sport and active recreation, from grassroots through to senior leadership roles.
Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration Principles:
- Equity and Equality in society and sport
- Leadership in Sport
- Sport Information and Research
- Resources
Target Audience:
- Sport Administrators
- Sport Policy Makers
Background:
This research, undertaken by Deakin University and funded through Change Our Game aimed to determine the impact of the 'Balance the Board'* Policy on 3 key areas within sport and active recreation organisations:
Process: the process organisations went through to achieve gender balanced boards, including challenges experienced and strategies used
Performance: the impact of increasing the proportion of women on boards on board performance
Experience: the impact of increasing the proportion of women on boards on directors’ experiences in boardrooms
Balance the Board is a policy to support increased representation of women on boards across Victoria’s sport and active recreation sector.
*Balance the Board requires all recognised Victorian sport and active recreation bodies to have a minimum of 40% women directors on its board to be eligible to apply for the Victorian Government’s Community Sport funding programs.
Summary:
The research highlights the key outcomes of the policy to date, which includes the impact of the policy on organisational governance.
The research also identified 3 key recommendations for increasing gender diversity on boards:
- Consider strategies to recruit and retain women to boards
- Adopt approaches which reflect where your organisation is on its journey
- Create an inclusive environment for women on boards
