As sports organizations employ more and more staff to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, a new study from the University of Virginia Commonwealth identifies five specific levels of barriers that these employees will face.
“DEI-specific staff positions are a fairly new phenomenon in the sport, and this study is one of the first to look at the barriers these staff members face when trying to advance DEI in their athletic departments,” said Yannick Kluch, Ph.D. ., an assistant professor and director of inclusive excellence at the VCU Center for Sport Leadership. “Knowing what the main building blocks can be is crucial to establishing these DEI professionals for success and, in turn, empowering them to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in their work in the athletic department.”
In ‘‘ It’s like being on an island for yourself ’: Perceptions of diversity managers, equity and the inclusion of barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion work in intercollegiate athletics, ”published in the Journal of Sport Management, Kluch and colleagues. the authors have identified five main obstacles that sports administrators face:
“It’s important to understand that these are all related, and one contributes to the other,” Kluch said. “For example, some of the DEI administrators felt tired – an emotional barrier – because they didn’t have additional staff working for them – a structural problem – and they lacked the support system to continue to do their job – a social / relational barrier.
The researchers collected data from interviews with 23 athletics administrators to identify obstacles to efforts to guide DEI action in the context of intercollegiate athletics, he said. While the results have important implications for staff with DEI responsibilities in university athletics, the study can provide valuable insight for any organization invested in removing barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion.
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