Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Sport

As the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion continues to be of growing importance across all businesses, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Sport provides a comprehensive examination of DEI issues across the sport industry. This text’s emphasis on application and critical thinking will guide students in developing their ability to effectively lead sport organizations of all kinds with vision and compassion. With a diverse team of contributors representing a variety of unique perspectives, this text aligns with the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) Common Professional Component content area of diversity issues in sport management.

Organized into three parts, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Sport aims to clearly illustrate how to make a true impact in sport settings. Part I delivers foundational knowledge of what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean within sport organizations, including how power and privilege play out in sport organizations to include some and exclude others. Students will develop the skills associated with appreciating and having conversations about differences and learn how understandings about difference affect policy development and decision-making.

Part II further develops understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion through comprehensive coverage of critical areas of diversity that have an impact on the sport industry, including social class and economic status, gender and gender identity, race and ethnicity, disability, political influence and affiliation, religion, and age.

Part III is designed to empower sport professionals to become leaders, providing actionable advice on promoting and successfully implementing best practices. Students will learn about connecting difficult conversations to leadership, planning strategically, assessing organizational climate, and using sport as a platform for social change.

Each chapter opens with a real-life scenario introducing the chapter’s topic and closes with exercises to prompt critical thinking about the issues raised. Sport Industry Leader Profiles provide interviews with leading professionals for practical, informed opinions on the issues presented. Sport Industry Diversity Initiative sidebars feature organizational approaches to DEI issues.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Sport addresses the key areas and challenges surrounding DEI in the sport industry and examines the role of sport in effecting social change. With practical application skills on incorporating knowledge into decision-making, current and future professionals alike will be prepared to lead sport businesses as diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments.

Ellen J. Staurowsky, EdD, is a professor of sports media in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College. She is internationally recognized as an expert on social justice issues in sport, including college athletes’ rights, the exploitation of college athletes, gender equity and Title IX, and the misappropriation of American Indian imagery in sport.

Staurowsky is coauthor of College Athletes for Hire: The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA Amateur Myth and editor of Women and Sport: Continuing a Journey of Liberation and Celebration. She regularly works with the National College Players Association and has coauthored several of their reports, including “How the NCAA’s Empire Robs Predominantly Black Athletes of Billions in Generational Wealth.” She has worked with the Women's Sports Foundation on several research projects and served as lead author on “Chasing Equity: The Triumphs, Challenges, and Opportunities in Sports for Girls and Women.”

Staurowsky is currently a senior writer for Legal Issues in College Athletics and Sports Litigation Alert. She has been a columnist with College Sports Business News and the Women in Coaching blog, and she is cofounder and editor of the LGBT Issues in Sport: Theory to Practice blog.

Algerian Hart, PhD, is the associate dean of the graduate college and a professor of kinesiology at Missouri State University. He is president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS) and has served on the organization’s diversity and conference climate committee. He also serves on the inclusion committee for the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM).

Hart is a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission, is a faculty evaluator for the American Council on Education, and serves on the editorial review boards for the Journal of Athlete Development and Experience and the Sociology of Sport Journal. He has written extensively on the topics of marginalized populations in education and student-athlete advocacy, and he is the author of The Student Athlete’s Guide to College Success.