Sports and Diversity

There is still an imbalance between men and women in the world of work. It is shameful that a gap remains between average pay for doing the same job, and I can’t understand how any company can continue this practice in the so-called developed world with a clear conscience.

Meanwhile, at the top end, women still struggle to break through. I read an article last week concluding that even in the Nordic countries, with their enlightened attitudes and superb childcare, women don’t often reach the top. There are now quotas for board members, but these disguise the fact that management teams are still mainly composed of men. The article had various plausible but disheartening explanations, including that the good provision of childcare actually encouraged women away from work for longer periods.

In work, the gender imbalance is the most studied, but it is far from alone. Kudos to Tim Cook for coming out as gay, and let us hope that starts to break down the taboo of homosexuality in business – lagging society as usual. And what about race? Ethnic minorities often seem noticeably absent in management teams as well. This may start with education: in the US your graduation prospects still vary significantly by colour of skin. In one case that works in the opposite direction, with Asian Americans now dominating top high schools and colleges – we can fully expect this to be reflected in management soon. But Latino and African Americans still lag.

Observing sports can often offer more general lessons, and this may be true in diversity as well. Sports tend to have an intense, goal-driven environment, but one where traditions play a part as well.

Women’s sports vary wildly in maturity and popularity. In athletics and tennis, women share almost equal billing, while women’s soccer and basketball are real poor relations. Why might this be?

Sometimes it is just tradition. Many sports are offered more readily to one gender at school. I am not sure that women should be pushing to play the most violent sports like American Football – guys should be thinking twice about those as well – but in many cases the thinking is patronising and out of date. Apparently ski jumping was deemed unsuitable for women until this year – why that should be I have no idea.

Then there are sports where the physical limitations of women really affect the spectacle. Whenever I see women’s soccer or basketball or cricket, the action seems ponderous. These are the same sports where spectators yearn a more exciting format, so why don’t the women’s games show some innovation? In soccer, shorter games, smaller pitches, wider goals and a faster ball could lead to games that had pace and excitement.  In the same way, golf could do more with match play team events (even mixed ones?).

In other sports, the women’s game can seem just as exciting, even if the skill and stamina level is a little lower. In tennis, Billie Jean King and others forced through something akin to equal pay and equal coverage. While I have always thought that deal went a little too far, given the shorter matches and weaker depth of the women’s game, other sports could benefit from a dose of feminism.

In the meantime, it is too tempting for women’s games to reach for the cynical appeal of sex, in the manner of beach volleyball. While most followers and pundits are male, this is the quickest way to get recognition, and even tennis has exploited it at times (strange how the cameras at the French open all seem under skirt high), but it drives games into the wrong niche.

Perhaps more relevant for business is to look at women in other roles in sports. You see almost no senior female administrators, and few pundits – beyond an obvious glamour role. An appointment of a woman referee in England recently led to some Neanderthal reactions. The same happens when we see women coaches. Why should women not be just as effective in all these roles? I really hope Andy Murray blazes a trail with Amelie Mauresmo as his coach, and if Rafa Nadal’s Dad really thinks a female coach is not acceptable due to possible locker room embarrassments, then he needs some coaching himself.

Here we see the same problems women face in business. Tradition weighs heavily, often disguising sheer prejudice. Minor practical objections are raised. Only certain women want to face the spotlight of being trailblazers, and recruiters also fear retribution and shy away from brave appointments. Lastly, there is less of a ladder of growth to seniority available – it is not just necessary to have quotas at the top and opportunities at the bottom, help is needed every step of the way.

Race in sport is even more revealing. In most sports, it has taken longer for black players to come through than it should have. That can only be down to lingering prejudice, starting at the school level. Then there has been further delay in bringing forward black coaches, not to mention agents and owners.

There is a call in Britain to bring in the same rule for recruiting a new coach that has long applied in American Football, namely that at least one black candidate must be interviewed. I support this, as it would force any prejudice in hiring committees out into the open, since only one voice is needed to speak up for fair treatment.

US Football provides lots of examples of the various roadblocks for people of colour in sport. It started as a white sport, even by law. Once black players started coming in, they initially tended to be in lineman positions, where specialized training needs are lower and brute force trumps brainpower. Gradually, blacks became accepted in other positions, though only recently have they penetrated the holy grail of the sport, the quarterback position. Even now, many black quarterbacks seem to be those relying on passion, adaptability and power rather than pocket management.

I don’t accept there is anything genetic in this, so it must be a result of prejudice plus the legacy of expectations and training going back to school levels. It takes many generations to overcome these factors dragging progress, and it needs role models to break through as well as enlightened coaches prepared to gamble and risk their own livelihoods and the wrath of a prejudiced crowd.

Russell Wilson at Seattle is a wonderful example of a role model. He is plainly intelligent and thoughtful, and even draws lessons from other sports to create new good practices. How sad, then, that when his team was going through a poor run earlier in the season he was reportedly criticized by team mates for being “not black enough”.

I can only speculate what this remark implied. Was he being too cerebral? Did his play lack some anger or some victim mentality? Luckily, both he and his team seem to have ridden the slump, thanks also to an aggressive but supremely intelligent (black) corner and a passionate, rebellious, almost childish (white) coach. Only when such lingering expectations of racial roles disappear will progress be complete. Sadly, most of the black coaches so far have underperformed against white peers, despite the media trying to talk them up. That just shows that persistence is required for many, many years. In the same way, it took years for cricket to accept that batsmen should not all be toffs and fast bowlers the sons of miners.

Other sports play up to these damaging expectations even more. Baseball remains predominantly a white sport (plus some Japanese and Cubans). Basketball is largely black, with a few burly, working-class whites, and is marketed in a “black” way, full of rap, anger and anti-heroes. The futility of this is shown by the enduring success of San Antonio, the only team that eschews individual culture in favour of a clear team ethic. Observe and learn, other teams, and follow what works over and above any false cultural expectations.

Lessons abound in wider life situations. To enjoy the full benefits of diversity requires time, persistence, and role models. Help is needed all the way through the chain, not just at the top and the bottom. Quotas have a role, but must be persisted with over a long period and supplemented by other things.

Meanwhile, pandering to perceived racial or gender specialisation, whether of position or attitude, can work for a time but in the end only damages longer-term progress, since it drives people into false niches. I think the lesson is clear. By all means use your physical assets as a woman or perceived victim status as a person of colour, but do so tactically and avoid making a career out of it – otherwise you’ll only drag yourself and others into new dead ends.

Now I can go back to enjoying some sports. A long, dull, weekend in November must be boring for some. For me, I had champions league on Wednesday, NFL yesterday and look forward to premier league tomorrow and more NFL on Sunday, all of which can be enjoyed in parallel with ample family time. I am clearly not alone, judging by the viewing figures sports enjoy – and as pretty well the only TV that must be seen live nowadays, the advertisers focus there more and more too. Go on, you can’t beat us sports nuts, so why not join us?