Gender Mainstreaming has been embraced internationally as a strategy towards realising gender equality. It involves the integration of a gender perspective into the preparation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, regulatory measures and spending programmes, to promote equality between women and men, and combating discrimination (EIGE, 2019).
World Rowing is recognised by the ASOIF evaluation report and 2022 IF Gender Equality Survey as a leading international sports federation on gender equality matters. This achievement results from World Rowing embracing a gender mainstreaming approach since 2013 with the launch of a detailed survey of its member federations regarding female participation in rowing at the national and elite levels. The results showed that whilst women’s participation at the grassroots level was around 40%, this was not being reflected at the World Championship level. Using the gathered information, a gender equality action plan that was aligned with their strategic framework was developed to address this gap. Opportunities to integrate gender equality considerations within existing programmes were identified. As well, additional funding and new initiatives were identified to help achieve their goals. A system to regularly monitor progress and maintain motivation at the member federations was created. As a result of this approach, World Rowing successfully integrated gender equality throughout its organisation and the rowing ecosystem worldwide with tangible results achieved.
This refers to the analysis of current resource allocation practices within the organisation and ensuring that resources are distributed in a way that equally benefits women and men (EIGE, 2019).
Policy monitoring and evaluation of gender equality policies, along with scientific research, should be integrated into all actions. Policies must go into greater depth whilst being constantly adjusted to respond to changes in specific contexts. Accordingly, the organisations must indicate with clarity the monitoring, evaluation and data collection methods to be used throughout the organisation (High-Level Group, 2022: 11)
The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) have developed a special reporting system where the sports clubs need to register information about the gender of their board leaders. The clubs will have to report each time they elect a new board. NIF collects the data and presents the results every year. NIF hopes that the “Gender Survey” will highlight the imbalance and make sure that the Norwegian sports federations will be more active and work towards a better gender balance.
Coordinators for gender equality should be appointed within the organisation to ensure that gender equality strategies/action plans, as well as related initiatives, are implemented and monitored in the most efficient and organised manner. Accordingly, coordinators for gender equality should have the appropriate skill set and technical knowledge to strategically guide the organisation on gender matters whilst coordinating the implementation of gender equality strategies/plans (High-Level Group, 2022: 13)
DOSB launched the Team of Experts which offers systematic guidance to its member associations through professional advice and support to help associations to implement the task whilst using coaching activities to motivate women even further, and to give them the confidence to engage in leadership and decision-making positions.
Education, Training and Informal Support are integral tools for the appropriate implementation of gender equality strategies/plans. These should be addressed to all strategic stakeholders and include various programmes designed with the appropriate methodologies and tools to disseminate the scientific finding, promote learning of new practices, increase knowledge on the reasoning behind gender equality policies and promote knowledge-sharing and networking opportunities among stakeholders (High-Level Group, 2022: 12).
In 2014 World Rowing identified a Women Leaders Programme whereby women managers/board members from member NFs are supported to experience events, training camps and IOC courses for Olympic education to foster their future involvement and inspire members to increase gender equity in boards.
Communication refers to taking into account gender equality in written and spoken language which is attained when women and men and those who do not conform to the binary gender system are made visible and addressed in language as persons of equal value, dignity, integrity and respect (EIGE).
Aligned with the IOC's “Gender Equality and Inclusion Objectives for 2021-2024”, the IOC published the second edition of the “Portrayal Guidelines” in 2021. The Portrayal Guidelines are designed for the implementation of “gender-equal and fair portrayal practices in all forms of communication”; accordingly, NOCs and IFs are warmly encouraged to adopt these guidelines according to cultural contexts.
This is the notion that recognises the relevance of actively engaging men while tackling gender equality. Men tend to have the greater leverage opportunity to encourage changes in the policies and status quo; accordingly, men as allies can be vital co-players to create a movement for reform by mobilising a critical mass of networks of stakeholders to advocate for gender equality in leadership and decision-making in sports; hence, bringing gender equality concerns on the public arena (High-Level Group, 2022: 14).
The United Nations launched a social movement campaign called “#HeForShe” providing a systematic approach and targeted platform through which men and boys become agents of change for the achievement of gender equality.
It refers to an analytical tool for studying, understanding and responding to how sex and gender intersect with other personal characteristics and identities, and how these intersections contribute to unique experiences of discrimination (EIGE).
Since 2020, the English Football Association has implemented the “Football Leadership Diversity Code” to bridge the gap between the organisation and the increasing gender and ethnic diversity seen in society at large as to embed greater diversity across senior leadership teams, team operations and coaching setups, ultimately. Accordingly, the English Football Association and its members (i.e. clubs) are committed to championing diversity across both ethnicity and gender, as well as recognising that the senior leadership and team operations diversity should match the local population’s diversity including – among other targets:
• 15% of new hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage (or a target set by the club based on local demographics)
• 30% of new hires will be female
Notwithstanding, it is vital to understand the notion of intersectionality within the context of the country where the organisation is based/operated. In this regard, the English Football Association provides its members (i.e. clubs) with the opportunity to tailor their targets; in other words, the clubs should reflect the local demographics.
