A collaboration between Biathlon Canada and Brock University is leading to impactful change in gender equality within the National Sports Organization (NSO).
Through the Brock Center for Sport Capability, Assistant Professor of Sport Management Michelle Donnelly is working with Biathlon Canada to conduct a gender equity audit focusing on all aspects of the organization, including its membership and governance.
The project is linked to the federal government’s goal of achieving gender equality in Canadian sports by 2035. The government’s 2018 budget allocated funds to Sport Canada to support gender equality projects, which have reached into national scouting organizations such as Biathlon Canada.
“Decisions are being made and policies and practices are being implemented, but many organizations do not have baseline data, so they cannot assess whether their efforts are impacting positive change,” Donnelly said. “Biathlon Canada is really a leader in this area; I’m not aware of any other national statistical associations that have done a gender audit like this.
Heather Ambery, CEO of Biathlon Canada, said it was important for her and others to appoint a third party to examine the organization “with a gentle but critical lens.”
“We wanted a professional with experience in data analysis and deep knowledge of gender equality in sport to help us assess whether we were doing a good job in this area and make recommendations on what we could do better,” she said.
By analyzing nine years of Biathlon Canada membership data, which includes athletes, officials, coaches and volunteers from provincial and territorial clubs, Donnelly identified trends and a starting point for Biathlon Canada to measure future success.
According to her assessment, the proportion of athletes in Biathlon Canada has always been 40 per cent women in all age groups.
“This is very powerful for a national scouting organization and reflects an organization that has made some real commitments to increasing women’s participation,” she said.
Donnelly supplemented the quantitative data with interviews with athletes, officials and coaches about their experiences with biathlon and their understanding of Biathlon Canada’s commitment to gender equality. It also reviewed the organization’s website and policies.
Since then, I have made several evidence-based recommendations to Biathlon Canada, which have already led to improvements in gender equality. One of the recommendations was to formalize gender representation quotas on the board of directors.
“Studies have shown that gender equality commitments are more successful when they are institutionalized in policy,” Donnelly said. “The policy means that progress towards gender equality is more intentional and conscious.”
Before the audit, Biathlon Canada’s board of directors was made up of about 35 per cent women. Now, women’s makeup has reached 60 percent.
“Our members unanimously voted for a policy change stating that no more than 60 percent of a single gender identity can make up the composition of the board,” Ambery said.
Biathlon Canada is also focusing on changing the public perception of women in biathlon. More than a dozen new profiles on female athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and cheerleaders share how and why they participate in biathlon, and new photography challenges gender stereotypes.
“We often see images of men showing strength and endurance, while women hug each other or pat each other on the back,” Ambery said. “We want to intentionally portray women in all roles in biathlon participating in the sport in ways that are equivalent to their male counterparts.”
Next steps for Biathlon Canada include collaborating with provincial and territorial biathlon organizations to implement their gender-focused practices and procedures, and continuing to use the Gender Equality Audit to inform decisions at the national and local levels.
“The work in this space is never done,” Ambery said. “We are committed to maintaining and improving gender equity in our programs and initiatives, and we thank Dr. Donnelly and the Brock University Center for Athletic Abilities for getting us started on the right foot.”
