A study released last week by Ernst &Young Global Limited’s EY Women Athletes Business Network and espnW, reported that female executives are more likely to have played sports than those in non-leadership roles. They’re also more likely to hire other women who have played a sport.
Playing Sports Can Help A Woman Accelerate Her Leadership
The research report, titled “Making the Connection: Women, Sports and Leadership” surveyed 400 female executives and found that the majority (74%) believe that playing sports can help a woman accelerate her leadership and career potential. The study finds nearly 90% of those surveyed had played sports either at primary and secondary school, or during college. Among women currently holding a C-suite position, this proportion rose to 96%. When comparing C-level female respondents to other female managers, a far greater proportion had participated in sports at a higher level.
Women Athletes Enter The Workforce Ready To Win
The study validates long-held beliefs that women who are athletes have advantages when it comes to navigating the business world. Reporting on the study, Business Insider quoted Laura Gentile, vice president of espnW, as saying, “From work ethic to adaptability to superior problem-solving ability, these women enter the workforce ready to win and demonstrate that ability as they rise throughout their career.”
Playing Sports Gives Women The Upper Hand In The Workplace
Ultimately, the findings show that playing sports can help women in a multitude of ways. Not only are they more likely to develop motivational skills, team building skills, and the ability to see projects through, the competitive spirit that they cultivate on the field gives them the upper hand in the workplace.
This study might also encourage women and girls to participate in sports. Currently more than a thousand girls in the U.S. play high school baseball, but high school is usually as far as many of them go. There is a “glass ceiling” when it comes to women and sports and women lag way behind men when it comes to gaining recognition. In school, it’s an understatement to say that most of the funding goes to the high-attendance sports played by the men. Girls not only have to compete against one another, they have to compete against our society’s tradition of tucking them away in some sort of passive, secondary role.
Sports Participation Can Help Develop Leadership Skills
Studies like this one might make it easier to overcome the barriers and win the battles women still face if they want to continue to participate. To know that the experience will enable them to better navigate the workplace and better position them to be leaders might be all it takes to encourage both women and girls to keep playing. After all, it is clear that sports participation can play a positive role in developing the leadership skills of female executives and gives them teamwork skills to take to the workplace.
To read more reporting on the study go to Business Insider, or to read the entire study go to the Women Athletes Business Network.