Reducing uncertainty: a synthesis of gender diversity in sport leadership and its associations with workplace outcomes

Purpose The aim of this research was to synthesize the literature on workplace outcomes of gender diversity in sport leadership using a realist synthesis approach, helping to reduce stakeholders’ uncertainty regarding potential consequences of increased gender diversity. Design/methodology/approach The articles were identified using rapid evidence assessment (n = 24) and synthesized in terms of adopted theories and empirical evidence. Findings The theories can be classified into individual-level theories explaining how women differ from men in terms of characteristics and behavior, and group-level theories explaining potential consequences of group diversity, not specifically gender diversity. The identified workplace outcomes include structural characteristics, internal functioning, organizational orientation and performance (incl. financial performance), with gender diversity mainly having a positive or no association. The complexity of sport in terms of types of sport organizations (for-profit, non-profit, public) and workers (volunteers, paid staff) was not considered theory-wise; only some outcomes were sport-specific. Research limitations/implications Since studies mostly applied psychological theories from the corporate literature to sport, future research may consider the peculiarities of the sport sector (e.g. non-profit organizations, volunteers) to a greater extent. Greater consideration could also be given to the collection of longitudinal data that allow identifying causes and effects as well as changes over time and to studying gender diversity in sport leadership from an intersectional lens. Originality/value This article is the first to integrate sport literature related to outcomes (as opposed to antecedents) of gender diversity in sport leadership.