Women in Officiating Research
There is limited international and domestic research on women in sports officiating upon which to draw. This research and consultation for this report was conducted by Knight, Kavanagh & Page, a UK based research consultancy in partnership with Sport Ireland.
Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration Principles:
- Leadership in Sport
- Education Training and Development
- Sport Information and Research
- Resources
Target audience:
- Sports Administrators
- Sport Policy Makers
- Sport Coaches
Background:
Sport Ireland has released the findings of the online officiating survey which exclusively targeted active and inactive women officials across all sports on the island of Ireland. 412 women officials responded to the survey, with a breakdown of 354 active women officials and 58 inactive women officials.
Summary:
The report presents a balanced view of women’s experience of officiating. Women are motivated to officiate and feel competent and confident. However, more than half of the respondents to the survey experience abuse or criticism when officiating and many feel the pathways into and through officiating are not clear to women.
The report also explores reasons why women officials tend to quit and finally, will show how almost half of women officials had never or hardly ever been exposed to women officials in their own sporting career, but that many of those who had been exposed to women officials said it influenced their decision to officiate.
