Collaborate on SSHRC IG Funded Equity-Focused Research

Over the past year we have witnessed the public unraveling of one of Canada’s largest national sport organizations (NSO), Hockey Canada and abuse in sport scandals mount. The sport system in Canada was already under immense strain from the pandemic with plummeting participation rates and the loss of revenues. Never has there been a better time to examine this system and work to help build a more gender equal and transparent sport for all. To tackle this, two Lang Research Chairs have teamed up. Dr. Ann Pegoraro, the Lang Chair in Sport Management and Dr. Laurie Barclay, the Lang Chair in Leadership, both Professors in the Department of Management, will work together with researchers from the University of Toronto and Unversité Laval to investigate how sport can build back better post pandemic.

Dr. Pegoraro combines her vast experience in the sport sector and a leadership role as the co-director of E-Alliance, the National Research Network for Gender Equity in Canadian Sport with Dr. Barclay’s expertise in fairness and its intersection with work and leadership. Their four-year, $230,265 SSHRC Insight Grant is entitled “COVID-19 Impacts on Gender+ Equity in Canadian Sport: Understanding how sport can Address and Prevent Gender Inequity in Post-Pandemic Times.”

This research will explore the pandemic’s impact on gender+ equity in Canadian sport while assessing opportunities to aid recovery and sector inclusion. Gender+ equity is a term used to acknowledge the overarching need to ensure equity for women and girls in binary sports systems and guarantee equity for all individuals, including gender-expansive people with intersecting identities such as race, ethnicity, indigeneity, sexuality, and disability. The research explores the persistence of inequalities within the sports sector and how in returning to a “normal” state post-crisis, the industry can mitigate inequities and build back a more gender+ equitable sport system. The research team, in collaboration with stakeholders, will develop evidenceinformed guidelines for gender+ equity in the Canadian sports sector and mobilize knowledge within the industry.

The recent scandals at Hockey Canada and other NSOs related to safe sport have sparked ongoing national conversations regarding gender disparities, inclusion, and the persistence of structural inequities within sport. The findings of this research project will facilitate informed conversations that carry the capacity to shape the Canadian sports sector and guide the future of sports as a whole. Moreover, with collaboration at the heart of the research team’s focus, the in-depth analysis and the dissemination of the resulting knowledge among academics, industry leaders, and policymakers will contribute to social change focused on creating a more equity-based framework for Canadian sport.