Anti-racism and diversity among research areas funded to support Victorian women in sport

Funding through the Victorian Government’s Change Our Game Research Grants Program 2022/23 will support university-based research projects on effective anti-racism approaches, workplace management, approaches to coaching, and supporting diversity in sport.

The research will help identify real solutions to issues and barriers for women and girls in sport on and off the field.

Victorian Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence advised “this program is driving behavioural and cultural change across the sport and recreation sector. The research will be vital in helping us achieve gender equality and providing better outcomes for everyone.”

The successful project recipients are:

• Effective anti-racism approaches for women and girls in community sport (Dr Kim Toffoletti, Aish Ravi, Professor Karen Farquharson and Associate Professor Karen Block)

• Improving community sport clubs’ gender diversity management (Dr Jordan Taylor Bakhsh, Acting Professor Katie Rowe and Professor Pamm Phillips)

• Building bridges across the gender divide – mobilising male allyship in sport coaching (Dr Zoe Anver, Associate Professor Helen Brown, Dr Luke Jones)

• Mapping intersectionality within the Victorian sport sector workplaces (Professor Emma Sherry, Eleanor Faulkner, Professor Tracy Taylor)

Dr Kim Toffoletti and Aish Ravi from Deakin University are leading an anti-racism research project that will explore women and girls’ experiences and responses to racism in community sport.

The project will consider the impacts of reporting racism and will create culturally relevant and gender-sensitive anti-racism resources. This project complements research funded in last year’s program on enabling Muslim girls in physical activity and sport, which explored parental attitudes and barriers to participation.

Deakin University Research Lead Dr Toffoletti added “the support provided by Change Our Game will enable an important piece of research to help inform community sporting clubs on effective anti-racism approaches, and how to make sport a fairer and more inclusive space for women and girls.”

Since 2018, the Victorian Government’s Change Our Game Research Grants Program has invested more than $390,000 in 18 research projects to address issues impacting women and girls in sport and recreation. The program also aims to support the career development of early career researchers with an interest in gender equality and sport.

Image. Credit: Change Our Game