Debbie Jevans, the chief executive of England Rugby 2015, says she has no choice but to support quotas for women in sports boardrooms as a result of a dire lack of progress across the industry in recent years. “I’ve never been a fan of quotas but having not seen a lot of change I think maybe, sadly, you do need quotas, you do need to use the hammer to crack the walnut,” said the former director of sport for London 2012 – the first woman in Olympic history to hold the position.
Speaking at the Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation’s women’s sport network event, Jevans, who says her England Rugby 2015 team is 50% female, lamented the lack of progress made by women in the most senior positions in sport over the past five years. “If you look at the chief executives at national governing bodies, they’re now three less than they were a couple of years ago. If you look across the boards of business and sport there isn’t the right percentage of females in my view. If you look at a number of sports where often women are as successful as men, they’re not represented. Why is that?”
WSFF’s Trophy Women report from last year revealed that even the biggest sports struggle when it comes to gender equality. British Cycling has no women at all on its board – despite the success of their female athletes – while football and rugby also score low with 7% at the FA and 6% at the RFU, just one woman each on their boards of directors in Heather Rabbatts and Sophie Goldschmidt respectively. The issue prompted UK Sport and Sport England to publish a target of 25% female board members by 2017, a mark which WSFF has previously called for to be enforced with financial sanctions.
“You don’t advance an organisation if you ignore what 50% of the population think,” said Jevans, who argues that the RFU has made an effort to change the culture appointing a significant number of women in executive leadership positions at 38%, while British Cycling are now seeking applications from women for two non-executive positions on their board. “To dismiss the female view, not try to embrace women in sport is nuts. Putting that sort of view on the table is important.”
Jevans, a former tennis player often tipped to become the first female chief executive of the LTA, historically shunned quotas citing her time working at the IOC when it introduced a target to appoint 20% women into “decision-making positions” by 2005 which resulted in some federations appointing “wives and secretaries to the positions. Quota ticked.”
“But in the short term if things don’t change, we need to be slightly draconian and force people to do it. I’m not a quota fan because I think it’s a cop out, but having looked at what’s happened over the last five years where there’s been no changes in a demonstrable statistical sense, we do maybe need to do that to force businesses and federations – at the same time demonstrating how they’re changing their culture and what that career pathway is for women and demonstrating that there aren’t any glass ceilings. The two need to work in hand in hand.”
Article source: http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-Rugby-youngster-Anthony-Watson-learning/story-20505769-detail/story.html
England rugby chief Debbie Jevans calls for women quotas for top jobs
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