6 Micro-aggressions that Women Could Face in Their Sports Careers
We all know about the big ones: the wage gap and the low number of women that are in C-level positions. Do a quick search on these topics and countless articles and opinions will appear before your eyes. These two issues span the entire business world; not just the sports and entertainment industry.
While there’s still so much work to do to reach equality, we need to look closely at some of the less obvious experiences that women face in the workplace that can be just as damaging. Most are smaller and not-so-talked about. Sometimes they present as minor slips of the tongue and other times they are a product of poor training and lack of attention to detail. In worst-case scenarios, they are the results of poor corporate policies and leadership.
In sports and entertainment, these micro-aggressions can prevent women from entering the business, limit their ability to climb higher in their careers, and extinguish their passion for their roles and the industry.
Women trailblazing into traditionally male-dominated professions can make some uncomfortable. It’s why it’s taken so long to see women ascend to Team President roles and why there are still very few women in athletic training, player operations, and coaching roles.
Let’s break down some of the subtle, not-often-seen-or-discussed events that women may experience in their sports careers. By shining light and openly discussing them, we can hopefully create positive change and move our industry forward.
What are the micro-aggressions?
1/ Service vs. Sales — Personality vs. Behavior
Women hold the buying power in households but make up less than 20% of revenue-generating teams in sports. Those that find success in revenue-generating roles are often steered into revenue preservation positions and customer service. Why are women steered that way? That comes from old stereotypes that suggest women are friendlier, more organized, more accommodating, more compassionate, and peacekeepers.
While personality is important and will help someone land their first job, in reality, success in sales is less about personality and more about behaviors and processes. And as we’ve already discussed in a previous Breakdown post, today’s sales process is more human than pre-pandemic, and women’s skillsets hold up more than ever before.
2/ Women’s Leagues Aren’t Often Referred to as Major Leagues.
Social media explodes when new champions are crowned and then again a few months later when the championship rings are debuted. Everyone goes wide-eyed for the diamonds, ring sizes, hidden gems, and uniqueness of the designs. The championship ring is a long tradition in most sports to commemorate the historic achievement and the ceremony to receive them is highly anticipated by players, front office staff, and fans.
So what’s the problem? Take a look at the top of the men’s rings — NBA, MLB, NFL (The NHL refers to its team as Stanley Cup Champions) and these teams declare themselves “World Champions”, with no qualifier. How about the women’s rings? They are created and marked as “League Champions”, labeled as “women’s”. So even when a women’s team reaches the highest team achievement in their sport they are still represented as less than their male counterparts who achieved the same thing. That doesn’t seem right!
Additionally, (and unfortunately), women’s sports are never part of the conversation when people discuss the major leagues, which are referred to as the “Big 5” (NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, and MLS). It used to the the “Big 4” until MLS joined the ranks. But why aren’t the women referenced here?
Women’s sports are on the rise: sponsorship dollars, star-power, viewership, attendance…it’s all increasing. So let’s make a concerted effort to rebrand the conversation and include women’s leagues.
Why is all of this important for the business side of sports? We should never want to (intentionally or not) make someone feel “less than.” Job applications, sponsorship opportunities, money invested in the teams, merchandise sales, and more, all suffer when the public sentiment is that women’s leagues aren’t considered major. Why should an intern for the Washington Mystics feel like their internship experience is any less sought after than one with the Washington Wizards? A salesperson for Gotham FC is working just as hard as their counterpart at NYCFC, why are there those that are insinuating that it’s not the same?
So next time you discuss major league sports, let’s make sure that the women are in the conversation and not forgotten or dismissed. There are talented business executives and players who are working just as hard as their counterparts in the men’s leagues, and there is nothing minor about them.
3/ Seemingly Innocent Statements and Actions
Ever been on an important email that is opened up with a “Hi Guys”? Or walked out of an arena or stadium and been told “You get home safe”? How about having clients assume you are a guy because you are the manager or boss? Or, what about being told that a specific person doesn’t work well under a woman manager?
All of these are simple statements or moments that are typically brushed over. But when these things are seen, experienced, and heard over and over again, it creates the perception that women don’t have a place. Questions start popping up in minds like, “Why wouldn’t I get home safe?” Or, “Someone doesn’t work well with more than half of earth’s population? That’s crazy!”
However, the biggest questions become:
- Would we ever refer to a group of people as “Hi Ladies” or “Hi Women”?
- Are our male counterparts being told to get home safe too? Or simply being told to “have a great night”?
- Are male leaders notified of female employees that may not work well under male managers?
The answers tend to be overwhelming “No” for all of these.
Instead, let’s all be conscious and use terms like, “Hi Team,” “Hi Everyone,” or simply address people by name in emails. Let’s train staff on these small biases to ensure communication is as unbiased as possible. More importantly, women leaders need to be supported and be able to build dynamic and diverse teams consisting of people who support their leadership, rather than fight within it.
Leaders need to also pay attention to the social dynamics of their work environment. If fantasy sports, golf outings, dinners, and happy hours are a part of your workplace culture make sure they are inclusive and everyone feels welcomed. In turn, if you become aware that attendance and participation is unbalanced, then this is an opportunity to reevaluate the activities. Book Clubs, attending sporting events, and team lunches are all great alternatives.
4/ Confusing feedback — Are we too Friendly? Or too Assertive?
You can’t be all things to all people. We already know that women have a harder path to travel than men. What makes that even more challenging is that because they are typically one of few women “in the room,” everything they do is observed. Good, bad, and everything in between.
Too often, women are faced with feedback that their male counterparts don’t receive. For example, male executives will rarely be told that they are too driven, too assertive, or too aggressive. A woman can be unfairly labeled as too assertive and difficult when voicing their opinion or trying to drive a process forward. What does that say about society? That men are expected to be assertive and aggressive, and women are not.
How do you prevent this? I’m not saying women get a free pass from feedback. All feedback should be well-thought-out by leaders, even rehearsed in its delivery so that it’s properly received and accurately reflects the situation's circumstances. Feedback needs to be fairly addressed and if “Assertive” and “Go-getter” are words of positivity for others (e.g.: men), then it needs to be used in the same light for everyone.
5/ Work-life balance
“How do you balance it all?” — a question only asked to women who are mothers and very rarely asked to their male counterparts who are fathers/parents.
It sounds like a compliment! But yet again, it’s being suggested that society expects them to be the primary caregiver. If we go one step further, a male executive that may leave early to make it home for dinner or bedtime, or miss a weekend work event to be with family, is often regarded as going the extra mile and is applauded. The woman executive is simply looked at as doing one of her two main jobs.
What’s the moral of this story? Let’s leave gender dynamics out of the workplace and just stop asking women how they do it all. Instead, help them maximize their work hours so that they can be efficient in the work that they are passionate about and so they can then, in turn, maximize their time at home.
6/ Party-planning & Note-taking
In sports organizations, there are many things to celebrate — promotions, holidays, hitting goals, championships, awards, career milestones, etc. With only a few women in the room, they can be tasked with more supportive duties regardless of their job title. Tasks like answering phones, taking meeting notes (or distributing agendas), and planning the parties. Again, archaic gender roles coming into play.
What’s better? If an organization is short on support staff, create a schedule and a rotation where everyone gets a turn handling these tasks. Create a “Social Events” committee and enlist the help of multiple people so we can rid organizations of the misconception that women are planners and more organized.
Conclusion:
Awareness of these subtle situations is an important step. If you are in a position to do so, we encourage you to be part of the positive change to help us move closer to equality by extinguishing these micro-aggressions. For those women at the beginning of their careers or coming up the ranks, know that these micro-aggressions exist so that you can properly and professionally stand up for yourself if you’re ever faced with any of them.
The sports business is exciting and rewarding, and is in our opinion, the best in the world. The future of the sports business is more diverse and inclusive, and we know that cultures and work environments where everyone is comfortable, treated fairly, and supported are cultures that thrive.
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