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Academic says all-male BBC Sports shortlist was down to men's obsession with men
A Research Reader in Human Resources at Bucks New University says the all-male shortlist produced for 2011's BBC Sports Personality of the Year was predictable - because men are obsessed with men.
The shortlist was compiled by 27 all-male sports editors from magazines and daily and Sunday newspapers and Dr Gloria Moss says this gender makeup made it harder for women to make the list.
She said she was not surprised to see the likes of World 800m swimming champion Rebecca Adlington overlooked on the ten-strong list for the sought-after prize in favour of boxer Amir Khan and other male sports stars. The competition was won by cyclist Mark Cavendish.
The academic conducted research in five countries with Dr Gabor Horvath of the University of Glamorgan and the results show that men are most likely to choose to depict other members of the same sex when asked to draw a person.
Dr Gabor Horvath is a Senior Lecturer in International Business and Marketing at Glamorgan Business School and distributed the questionnaire, jointly prepared with Dr Moss, to 481 men and women in the UK, Germany, France, Hungary and China, who were asked to draw a person.
In Germany and China this led to 79 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively, of men drawing men. But in Germany only three per cent of the men's drawings were of women and in China no men drew pictures of women. In the UK, 73 per cent of the men drew other men, while just six per cent of their drawings depicted women.
Conversely, only 22 per cent of women in the UK and 25 per cent of women in Germany drew pictures of men. However, up to 25 per cent of women's drawings in each country depicted other women.
Dr Moss said: "I understand the criticism which has been directed at the absence of women on the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist but people should understand that, with an all-male panel, this outcome was always likely.
“Similar problems occur in many organisations, where research I have previously been involved in carrying out has shown that men are often selected in preference to women.”
Dr Moss says that the solution lies in gaining a balance of men and women decision-makers.
She added: “If it is difficult to find equal proportions of male and female sports editors, perhaps the panel should be reminded in future that they are expected to nominate women too, rather than being left to their own devices.
“Had the decision been left to women, they are much more likely to have come up with a mixed gender shortlist, so perhaps the moral is to have a combined jury with equal proportions of men and women, or slightly more women than men.”
Dr Moss has previously spoken on the subject of gender diversity and women’s role in the workplace on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. She has also written books examining the business advantages of a strategic approach to the implementation of diversity. These include Gender, Design and Diversity and a book shortly to appear, Lessons on Profiting from Diversity. This latest book shows how gender and personality can impact on management and marketing decisions and offers solutions for the way forward.
She said she was not surprised to see the likes of World 800m swimming champion Rebecca Adlington overlooked on the ten-strong list for the sought-after prize in favour of boxer Amir Khan and other male sports stars. The competition was won by cyclist Mark Cavendish.
The academic conducted research in five countries with Dr Gabor Horvath of the University of Glamorgan and the results show that men are most likely to choose to depict other members of the same sex when asked to draw a person.
Dr Gabor Horvath is a Senior Lecturer in International Business and Marketing at Glamorgan Business School and distributed the questionnaire, jointly prepared with Dr Moss, to 481 men and women in the UK, Germany, France, Hungary and China, who were asked to draw a person.
In Germany and China this led to 79 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively, of men drawing men. But in Germany only three per cent of the men's drawings were of women and in China no men drew pictures of women. In the UK, 73 per cent of the men drew other men, while just six per cent of their drawings depicted women.
Conversely, only 22 per cent of women in the UK and 25 per cent of women in Germany drew pictures of men. However, up to 25 per cent of women's drawings in each country depicted other women.
Dr Moss said: "I understand the criticism which has been directed at the absence of women on the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist but people should understand that, with an all-male panel, this outcome was always likely.
“Similar problems occur in many organisations, where research I have previously been involved in carrying out has shown that men are often selected in preference to women.”
Dr Moss says that the solution lies in gaining a balance of men and women decision-makers.
She added: “If it is difficult to find equal proportions of male and female sports editors, perhaps the panel should be reminded in future that they are expected to nominate women too, rather than being left to their own devices.
“Had the decision been left to women, they are much more likely to have come up with a mixed gender shortlist, so perhaps the moral is to have a combined jury with equal proportions of men and women, or slightly more women than men.”
Dr Moss has previously spoken on the subject of gender diversity and women’s role in the workplace on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. She has also written books examining the business advantages of a strategic approach to the implementation of diversity. These include Gender, Design and Diversity and a book shortly to appear, Lessons on Profiting from Diversity. This latest book shows how gender and personality can impact on management and marketing decisions and offers solutions for the way forward.
