Using statistics to make gender equity targets more objective

Statistics can help create awareness of gender equity and act as a tool to track progress. As Lauren Bastide, feminist activist and author of the book Présentes, recommends, there’s nothing like counting if you want to take stock of gender parity within a given environment!

Awareness of gender equity can be achieved very easily using demographic data like:

number of women matching people on the board
number of women matching people in a leadership position
number of women matching coaches
number of women matching players
funds allocated for women’s initiatives

These statistics illustrate the potential disparities and can refute the first counterarguments denying the existence of gender inequality. You can repeat the exercise yearly, as these statistics indicate progress over time.

Measuring how the game is distributed between men-matching and women-matching players in mixed sports is also interesting. These investigations often show that despite having close to even numbers on the pitch, women-matching players are less likely to receive the disc during a match.

Mixed game statistics are handy to visualise the gap between men and women during games.

By filming the games, a team can quickly gain insights into the number of touches by men and women matching players and by the team as a whole. You can also gain insights on on-field behaviours by different players, like:

Are assists mainly thrown by men matching players?
Do women-matching players often need to throw dumps or dishy passes?
Do players have trouble taking away space from each other? If so, where?

Out of this data, it is possible to understand better how players are feeling on the field and to have a snapshot of what was happening during play at any given moment, thus enabling evaluation of the progress made in mixed-gender play and simultaneously elevating the level of play for everyone.

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