CFP: Gender and Sex Diversity in Sport Organizations

Call for Papers
Special Issue of Sex Roles: A Journal of Research
Gender and Sex Diversity in Sport Organizations

While issues pertaining to gender and sex diversity are prominent in all organizations, they are especially pronounced in the sport context. Though changes brought on by case law and federal legislation have allowed for greater access to sport by women and girls over the past 30 years, sport organizations are often places that still reproduce traditional gender roles and male privilege. This phenomenon is not surprising given that sport was created by men, for men, and continues to be monopolized by men at many levels. For example, consider that women are severely under-represented as administrators and coaches of both men and women’s college teams, funding for high school and college women’s teams lags considerably behind that of men’s, and that opportunities to play and work for professional sport organizations are scant and often accompanied by far fewer monetary rewards for women as compared to men. From a group standpoint, recent research suggests that sex differences in members of dyads in sport organizations (e.g., coach and player, or supervisor and subordinate) can have a meaningful impact on subsequent work experiences. Finally, the composition of a group, whether a coaching staff or administrative unit, has been shown to reliably influence the processes and outcomes of that group. Thus, issues related to sex and gender play a significant role in the everyday functioning of sport organizations.

The purpose of this special issue, therefore, is to examine gender and sex diversity in sport organizations. Contributors may be interested in examining, among others, issues pertaining to sex discrimination, gender ideologies, sexual orientation, legal issues pertaining to men and women, homologous reproduction, female marginalization, male hegemony, and discrimination. Contributors may also wish to investigate gender issues as they relate to decision making and power, inter-group dynamics, organizational culture, and the structure of sport organizations.
From a different perspective, contributors may wish to focus on groups. Topics might include sex diversity within work groups, the experiences of persons in mixed-sex dyads, or how being dissimilar from others in the group influences subsequent outcomes, to name a few. Others may wish to investigate organizational strategies used to attract and retain women in the workplace or the influence of diversity management strategies on employees’ work experiences. In short, contributors are encouraged to investigate the pressing issues confronting men and women in sport organizations today.

Manuscripts should follow the guidelines in the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) and should be prepared in accordance with the “Instructions for Authors” found in published editions of Sex Roles. To ensure the suitability of the manuscript in the special issue, authors are encouraged to submit an abstract to the guest editors prior to submitting the complete manuscript. Manuscripts should be submitted, preferably in electronic form, to the guest editors by March 16, 2007.

Contact Details:
George B. Cunningham, Ph.D., Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, TAMU 4243, College Station, TX 77843-4243, Telephone: (979) 458-8006; Fax: (979) 847-8987; Email: gbcunningham@hlkn.tamu.edu

Michael Sagas, EdD, Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, TAMU 4243, College Station, TX 77843-4243, Telephone: (979) 458-3340; Fax: (979) 847-8987; Email: msagas@tamu.edu.