the international working group on women and sport 1994-2024: the challenge of change

This book comprehensively evaluates the role of the International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) - the world’s largest network dedicated to advancing gender equity and equality in sport, physical education, and physical activity - in influencing global and domestic policy and practice.

The issues addressed by the IWG in its first three decades of activism reflect global socio-political progress, as well as emergent new problems, for women, sport, and human rights. The IWG’s commitment to collaboration with, among others, the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations has provided the foundations for globally accepted frameworks to address gender-based issues in and through sport. The advocacy work of the IWG is told via first-hand interviews with key personnel from each of the IWG Secretariats, from its establishment in 1994 to 2024, providing insight into the most significant issues, achievements, and outcomes for the international social movement for women and sport.

The book is a useful resource for students in the sociology of sport, sport policy, leadership, management, coaching, and gender studies. It is also relevant to sport administrators, practitioners, policymakers, and those working in gender governance.

Elizabeth C.J. Pike is Professor of Sport, Health and Exercise at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. She is also Research Lead for the International Working Group on Women and Sport 2022-2026, Project Director for the Women in Sport High Performance pathway (WISH), co-founder of the Anita White Foundation, Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), and Past President of the International Sociology of Sport Association.