Research on Management and Sport in Norway

In Norway, especially Hovden and Skirstad have researched sport managers and their careers from gender perspective. Hovden (2000) researched the leadership selection process in the Norwegian Confederation of Sports (NCS) that is the umbrella organization for Norwegian sport organizations.

The research had gender perspective and the main focus was to find out “how meanings of gender are made relevant and how these processes may contribute to build and rebuild organizational gender structures” (Hovden, 2000, 1). The main findings were that in the selection of leaders, the most important abilities were corporate leadership skills i.e. heroic and masculine traits. However, these traits were seen as gender neutral. Most of the women candidates were not seen to have these skills. Only a few of the women candidates were seen as possessing these “heroic” skills. Hovden (2000) also mentions the use of personal and male dominant networks when selecting new leaders, which makes the selection process androcentric. In addition, positive feedback from sponsors and private investors were seen more important than obeying organizational policies. The researcher interpreted that the selection process indicated gender equality being rather subordinated compared to overall organizational objectives of NCS.

Hovden (2010) studied the hindrances for female sport managers in Norway by qualitative methods.

As in her earlier research, the study indicated that the general organizational perception of “good”

leadership is associated with masculine traits and stereotypical gender notions. Gender classification was also seen as a hindering factor: on one hand women are expected to have equal opportunities but on the other hand they are seen as a group that does not have the preferred leadership skills. It was discovered that natural women-specific skills were perceived helpful as long as they stay subsidiary to the dominant androcentric ideals. Hovden also argues that one of the largest obstacles for women’s careers is not having open political discussions about genders and not framing men as a gender category on equal terms with women. “To generate more gender-balanced leadership realities in sport, it is thus first and foremost necessary to transform men in leadership positions from naturalized heroic individuals and organizational symbols into gendered persons and a political category.” (Hovden, 2010)

Hovden (2012) studied the influence of different gender policies in Norway on Norwegian sport organizations. During the 1970s the gender split of sport organizations was noted. After that the political emphasis was largely on formal equality and on equal access into sport organizations.

Women’s policy claims triggered political changes that successfully integrated women formally into sport organizations. The participation of Norwegian women in sport and sport organizations increased significantly as they gained equal formal access into sport and sport organizations. During the 1980s justice-oriented discourses and strategies took place to correct the weaknesses of 70s formal equality policies. The new focus was to acknowledge the different starting points of women and men related to power and resources. These resulted in women gaining more organizational power and women’s position developing into a large minority from the 70’s specious position. In

the 90’s the dominance of new liberal and market liberal discourses exhibited the outcomes of gender split as market value and possible income. The gender split was perceived as natural and essential. Women’s features and erotic characteristics were marketed as a positive variance. This increased the value of female athletes in many sport associations but also caused gendering in the sponsor markets that reinforced the gendering of sports. In recent years, the gender political initiatives in Norway have had a new perspective in which women have been perceived as a minority category equal to other minorities as disabled, ethnic and religious minorities. New policies are not just considering gender split but are also trying to address multiple inequalities.

Hovden (2012) emphasizes that even though gender split is seen as an important policy issue amongst sport leaders of today, in the policy-making environment there are still male dominant power structures. Hovden (2012) suggests that the political focus should be shifted from the margins to the center, and to focus more on the position of powerful men and the power play instead of the marginal and understated groups. This would change the perception of men being the neutral and normal gender category into a similar specific gendered category as women are.

(Hovden, 2012)

Strittmatter & Skirstad (2017) studied the representation of women in the executive committees of national football associations in Germany and in Norway and their international influence in UEFA and FIFA. The study focused on the changes in Norwegian and German gender politics and how sport and football had adapted into these changes. Two nationally and internationally major persons for the development of women’s football, Ratzeburg and Espelund, were interviewed for the study.

It was noted that having powerful mentors with also legitimate power in their organizations had a positive impact on Ratzeburg’s and Espelund’s success. Another emphasized factor was the success of the national teams in Norway and in Germany. As the women’s teams started to achieve success, also the interest towards women within decision-making boards increased. Both the interviewed women had played football previously, which they saw important for their personal progress. They were familiar with the football context, they knew what should be developed, how to act and how to talk about football. They felt this experience gave authority that was valuable in their work.

In Norway, there is also a lack in management and leadership research in the football context. The research found were master theses that considered club level and strategic leadership or player development (See Bråthen, 2015; Edvardsen, 2011; Hauken, 2014). There is a lack of research from gender point of view considering women as football leaders.

In Norway, as globally and also in Finland, the focus of research has been in sport in general. There is a gap in research on female sport managers’ careers in a single sport context. As argued earlier

sport is a gendered and segmented space. Women leaders are better presented in sport that are traditionally feminine and not visible in masculine ball games. Treating sport as a single entity does not consider the special characteristics of different sports and the segmentation of sport. For these reasons, more research is needed in different game specific contexts.

2 BACKGROUND & CONTEXT DESCRIPTION

In this chapter, the background and context of this research are introduced. Context is an important factor in sport related research that must be considered. How the context is understood influences fundamentally the interpretations made of the empirical material. (Aalto-Nevalainen, 2018; Slack, 1998) Underestimating the meaning of context may lead to misunderstandings and to decreased validity of research. In the next chapter women’s present position in sport and football is described that is followed by a discussion of the specific factors of sport and football context. As argued previously, women’s position in football or football as a context has rarely been researched. Sport in general offers the closest context possible. Therefore, the following chapters are mainly on sport level and complemented with football specific knowledge. After the description of women’s position and contextual factors of sport, the third and fourth sub chapter introduces the case organizations SPL and NFF.