Leading the Way? Ethnic diversity and inclusion in the senior leadership workforce at 18 sports bodies

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

• The focus of this report is on ethnic diversity and inclusion in the senior leadership workforce at sports bodies, with particular respect to Board and SLT positions.
• More specifically, the findings in this report examine four areas of focus in relation to the senior leadership workforce at sports bodies; (i) the levels of representation of ethnically diverse groups, (ii) the potential and realised benefits of ethnic diversity, (iii) key organisational challenges to increasing ethnic diversity, and (iv) existing and emerging examples of good ‘race’ equity practice.
• The findings in this report are based on a twelve month research study undertaken with a sample group of 18 sports bodies which hold tenancy at the Loughborough University East Midlands campus and Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP). In total, nine sports bodies are National Governing Bodies of Sports (NGB’s) and nine are other national or regional sports bodies (N/RSB’s) with varied operational focus, incorporating sport management, elite performance, or the delivery of sport to adult and/or youth populations.
• The research utilised a mix of secondary and primary data collection. This included a scoping review of EDI strategies, action plans and reports relating to 18 sports bodies, and semi-structured interviews (n=15) and focus groups (n=2) with 19 EDI leads and/or senior executive staff at 15 sports bodies.