Doing and Undoing Gender in Sport Governance

Processes of sense making enable individuals to explain or give meaning to their experiences including those pertaining to gender. Meanings shape both individual behaviors and expectations for the behavior of others. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how board members of national sport associations in the Netherlands made sense of gendered arrangements. We used a sense making approach that acknowledges the significance of context (gender ratio) and constructions of meaning in shaping organizational practices. The results, based on 29 semi-structured interviews, showed how board members gave meanings to gender skewness that included defining board work as gender (in) appropriate and sustaining and challenging behaviors defined as stereotypical. We discuss how the results reflect doing and undoing gender.