The Underrepresentation of Women in Esports Leadership Positions: Exploring the Barriers and Facilitating Factors

Although women remain underrepresented in all facets of esports leadership (e.g., executive organisational and coaching positions), few studies have investigated the underrepresentation issue. This article explored the perceived barriers to, and facilitating factors for, the representation of women in esports leadership positions. Utilising a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 women holding leadership positions within the esports industry. Underpinned by LaVoi and Dutove’s (2012) ecological model, the hybrid deductive-inductive thematic analysis provided holistic insight into the multi-level factors that influence gender representation in esports leadership. Barriers included industry culture, gendered leadership norms and the legitimacy deficit (socio-cultural level), organisational structures and processes (organisational level) and role conflicts (emerged at multiple levels of analysis). Facilitators experienced by the interviewees included personal characteristics (individual level) and gendered networks (interpersonal level), while mentorship and education (emerged at multiple levels) were perceived as important, but underdeveloped facilitative mechanisms. Practical recommendations for the esports industry were included to enhance the representation of women in esports leadership. The findings contributed a conceptual model that captures the leadership journeys of women in esports.