A Guide to Diversifying and Transforming Football Leadership (Coursera)

A Guide to Diversifying and Transforming Football Leadership (Coursera)

Football is a globally followed and revered sport. In recent years, concerns over diversity and discrimination in the beloved sport have made international headlines. This has put a spotlight on the lack of representation both on and off the football pitch. The disparity in football leadership representation is even more apparent when gender, race and ethnicity comes into play. This MOOC aims to understand, explore and ultimately address the exclusion of women and people of ethnic minority background (WEM) in football organizations.

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Resources and practical tools are provided for aspiring football leaders and governing body members. Ultimately, the course looks to the future of football leadership and asks what needs to be done to transform the football world from the inside out.
This course consists of 4 modules or ‘weeks’. In each module, a different theme will be addressed in short expert videos. Furthermore, each week will have supplementary reading material and a brief quiz or discussion topic to apply the knowledge gained from the videos and readings. Participants are invited to relate the gained knowledge to their own experiences, personal development or ambitions to create social change within the football world. Participants are expected to watch the videos before doing the small exercises.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Gender and ethnic minority exclusion in football cultures and structures
Welcome to the course! This module puts a spotlight on the exclusion of women and ethnic minority groups in football organizations. It explores how exclusion manifests itself and what structural processes inhibit diversity in football leadership.

WEEK 2
Structures and governance in football
The diverse talent that is seen on the football field is often not represented in the boardroom. In this module, we will break down football governing structures and discuss the process of moving up the leadership ladder in football organisations.

WEEK 3
Navigating race and gender based discrimination in football organizations
Making your way up the football leadership ladder as a person of colour can be challenging but as a woman of colour this can be burdensome because of the discriminatory hurdles within football organisations. Module 3 delves into these hurdles and discusses ways women of colour navigate discrimination in football organisations.

WEEK 4
Transforming football leadership
Thus far, the course has highlighted the competitive disadvantage that women of minority background have in employment for leadership positions in the football world. In this final module, we talk about measures that need to be taken to address structural inequities in football organisations.

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