International Multilingual Journal of Contemporary Research

Gender and Sports Leadership Formation: A Case Study in Mexico
Género y formación de liderazgo deportivo: estudio de caso en México
Alejandra Montes-de-Oca-O’Reilly, Libra Nava

Abstract
This qualitative research makes a contribution to leadership formation, gender, and sports studies in Mexico. We evaluate whether the suggestions by Montes-de-Oca-O’Reilly & Yurén (2010) with respect to ethical leadership formation (a study carried out with female academics) also apply to five female and five male sport leaders in the same region. Our findings indicate that the factors suggested by the above mentioned authors for leadership formation do apply to the female and male participants in our study; namely, agency, having support people and mentors, pursuing autonomy, being exposed to problematic situations that present challenges, establishing far-reaching goals, generating dispositions for resistance to instrumental logic, being exposed to leadership figures, social and moral formation, as well as an increase in cultural and social capital. We also identify some sociocultural factors that make sport leadership formation more difficult. Athletes were found to have faced gender inequities. In addition, we interviewed five officials from the state-level government institution that coordinates sports activities. We recommend government sport policies that employ a broader gender perspective at the national, state, and municipal levels.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/imjcr.v2n4a1