Twelfth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to conceptualize the effect of the glass ceiling on the career development of women in the sports industry. Gender equality issues must be spoken about and people should be educated on them to understand them. A systematic review using thematic literature review was conducted to obtain the theoretical background for the paper. Forty-three research papers in the field of career development, gender equality, and sports were examined. Findings reveal that the presence of the glass ceiling hinders women to move up the corporate ladder in sports. This causes a lack of representation of women employees in top management positions (decision-making roles.) The authors analyze the ceiling and provide possible solutions. The conceptual framework developed based on the literature review is called the WinS Holistic Analysis Model. This model is also vetted through fields outside of sports to inspect similar patterns of the ceiling. It is critical that women feel confident of an equal opportunity to reach top management positions. With the world looking to promote gender equality and efforts being taken to support that, it is essential now more than ever to highlight the ceiling and break that.