Women leaders in sport: a community of practice programme to create social learning

ABSTRACT Purpose: A community of practice (CoP) social learning approach can purposefully support change and provide rich experiences to benefit participants and their sport organisations. We explore how a CoP intervention programme creates social learning outcomes and expands opportunities for women as leaders in sport. Research methods: Chief Executive Officers (16) undertaking a 1-year intervention programme were interviewed and completed a Gender Equality Diagnostic Tool, pre- and post-programme. Findings: The social network formed during the CoP programme expanded participant's social learnings and associated actions, through informal social interactions and discussion of shared practices. Practical implications: CoP interventions that embed social learning into programme design and provide impetus to implement organisational change and initiatives can expand opportunities for women into sport leadership. Research contribution: A refined understanding has been gained on how bringing together CoP and social learning theoretical frameworks can be a powerful force for change.


Introduction
Women's under-representation in sport leadership roles has been extensively researched and theorised in sport management, sport sociology, and gender studies scholarship (cf.Burton, 2019;Harris et al., 2015;Pape, 2020).These examinations have been located within critiques about the gendered nature of sport (Taylor et al., 2019), the existence of an "old boys club" network of power and privilege (Hartzell & Dixon, 2019), and the persistent prevalence of masculinity as a preferred trait of leaders in sport organisations (Burton, 2019).While recent research indicates that sport leadership roles are becoming more inclusive, it is generally acknowledged that the movement towards gender equality has been incredibly slow (Swanson et al., 2020).
The lack of progress in achieving gender equality has prompted a growing number of government and sport bodies to introduce strategies, policies and programmes that aim to provide women with greater access to leadership roles in sport.Many government regulatory and funding agencies, industry bodies and sport organisations have mandated targets or quotas for leadership or governance positions (Burton, 2019;Sisjord et al., 2017).However, evidence from several countries continues to show that women still face challenges in obtaining and maintaining sport organisation leadership roles (e.g.Australia -Sotiriadou & Pavlidis, 2020;Canada -Culver et al., 2019;Hungary -Földesi & Gál, 2019;Kenya -M'mbaha & Chepyator-Thomson, 2019;New Zealand -Ryan & Dickson, 2018;UK -Velija & Mansfield, 2018;USA -Gaston et al., 2020).
To better understand this persistent challenge, recent research agendas have productively deployed a multilevel framework categorisation analyses to the study of women and sport leadership; comprising macro (societal), meso (organisational) and micro (individual) levels (e.g.Burton, 2019).This framework provides a basis to locate the barriers and facilitators that operate at each of the three levels.Using this framework, Sotiriadou and de Haan (2019) suggested concentrating on the micro-level based on the influential role individuals play through being "champions of change" at all levels of governance and how they might address the inequality associated with women in leadership Likewise, de Vries (2015) confirmed the critical role of these champions and the need to understand effective champion behaviours.We examined this premise through working with leaders in sport organisations who participated in a programme designed to develop them as change agents within their own organisations and across the sport industry in the support for women as leaders.Change agents can facilitate transformational change through "two way engagement between men, gender interventions and their organisations" (de Vries, 2015, p. 34) to address the under-representation of women as leaders in sport.Our research focussed on the development of a community of practice (CoP) to stimulate developmental, transitional or transformational organisational change (Welty Peachey & Bruening, 2012) through interactions between the three levels in the multilevel framework.
Our research examines CoP through a social learning approach as this enables the research process to directly benefit the participants.Previous research into CoP in sport has explored sport-for-all (e.g.Willem et al., 2019), and women head coaches (Bertram et al., 2017).Evidence from the latter indicates that a CoP social learning approach can purposefully support change and provide rich experiences to benefit participants and their sport organisations, individually and collectively.The research aimed to explore how individuals within a CoP intervention programme create social learning outcomes and expand opportunities for women as leaders in sport.

Gender inequity in sports leadership
While advances have been made in increasing women's representation in leadership positions in sport organisations, gender inequality persists (Banu-Lawrence et al., 2020).Progress has been made in some quarters (e.g. board representation - Elling et al., 2018), but generally male privilege, power and numerical dominance continue across the sport industry (Burton, 2019;Richards et al., 2020).Women leaders in sport are often hampered by a binary and hierarchically gendered logic that shapes organisational procedures and culture (Pape, 2020).Women are under-represented in board, management and executive positions in sport organisations (Steidinger, 2020), generally paid less (Richards, 2018), experience feelings of marginalisation (Reid & Dallaire, 2019) and are exposed to sexism in the workplace (Hindman & Walker, 2020).The often dominant masculine workplace culture in sport shapes how women leaders are perceived and gives rise to gendered challenges (Burton, 2019;Wicker et al., 2019).In 2019 across the 63 Australian national sporting organisations (NSO), women comprised only 24% of CEOs and 15% of high performance coaches (Sport Australia, 2021, May).In 2020, the number of women on the boards of NSO is 41.7% (Women on Boards, 2020).The longstanding gender inequality in leadership is well recognised in Australian sport, and in the national sport governance principles (Principle 4), the standard is that no gender account for more than 60% Directors in a NSO (Sport Australia, 2020, July).These principles do not address other forms of leadership and gendered challenges remain.
Considerable research has been taken into prevailing and persistent challenges to women assuming leadership roles, yet, meaningful actions in gender equity are limited (Evans & Pfister, 2021).Effecting much needed organisational culture change and practicable solutions (Evans & Pfister, 2021), include strategies and policies that encourage and enhance female leadership in sport (Hartzell & Dixon, 2019); leadership development programmes (M'mbaha & Chepyator-Thomson, 2019); reshaping organisational procedures and processes (Pape, 2020); identifying and addressing organisational barriers for women (LaVoi et al., 2019); or creating equity champions in organisations to tackle gender related issues (Sotiriadou & de Haan, 2019).Actions should empower women to attain leadership positions while engendering a broader acceptance of women in the governance of sport organisations (Evans & Pfister, 2021;Sotiriadou & de Haan, 2019), and proactive change in sports' organisational culture, structures and policies (Parker, 2019).
Research needs to move beyond studies on gender distribution and the barriers that prevent women obtaining decision-making positions to research that measures the effectiveness of practices to increase the representation of women (Evans & Pfister, 2021).Our research focuses on enabling factors in interventions that support women in sport leadership roles (Pike et al., 2018) from an organisation perspective.This approach allows us to better understand how organisations resist or facilitate the responsibility to change through addressing institutional and structural practices that impact opportunities for women (Spaaij et al., 2020).We apply a social learning lens to examine a CoP programme initiative aimed at expanding opportunities for women in leadership roles in sport.

The development of community practice through social learning
Communities of practice and networked solutions develop through "people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis" (Wenger et al., 2002, p. 4).Interactions are informal and evolving (Ardichvili, 2008), occur within a social space (Li et al., 2009), and cross-organisational boundaries (Aubry et al., 2011) determined by a shared concern (Willem et al., 2019).
A CoP has been explored in a variety of social learning environments, including sport (Bertram et al., 2017;Willem et al., 2019).A CoP comprises three fundamental elements: a domain of knowledge, which defines a set of issues (e.g.gender equity in sport leadership); a community of people who care about this domain and the shared practice that members are developing to be effective in their domain (Wenger et al., 2002).CoP aligns with a broader goal (Willem et al., 2019), and include a knowledge broker (Conklin et al., 2013) to facilitate ongoing interactions (Culver et al., 2017).Sport governing bodies can be knowledge brokers as they provide support, tools and platforms for knowledge sharing (Girginov et al., 2015).CoP can provide interconnected competencies (Wenger et al., 2002), such as when sport organisation employees become members of a CoP (Willem et al., 2019) to gain an understanding of government requirements, support, practices and opportunities.However, the extent to which government bodies may enhance learning in a CoP and ensure a process of knowledge sharing is not evidenced (Willem et al., 2019).
A social learning approach takes CoP beyond being a transactional lever through identifying learnings gained within CoP.Social learning can occur from peer-to-peer interaction via social networks, as a process of social change where individuals learn from each other for the benefit of society.Social learning can take place at the surface level or involve deeper conceptual change at group, community or societal scale (Reed et al., 2010).Learning occurs through a change of a person's understanding of the world and their relationship to it (Fazey & Marton, 2002).This occurs through the social interaction of others and/or facilitative mechanisms including dissemination of information that results in more than one person potentially gaining new learnings (Reed et al., 2010).
Social learning is when "ideas and attitudes learned by members of a small group diffuse to members of wider social units or communities of practice to which they belong" (Reed et al., 2010, p. 5).Reed et al. proposed that social learning outcomes can be evidenced through three actions.First, that a change in understanding has occurred for individuals involved either at surface level or at a deeper level such as a demonstrated change in attitude.Second, the social learning gained goes beyond the individual and is within wider social units or communities of practice.Finally, that social learning expands through social interactions and processes between stakeholders directly or indirectly within social networks.
Our research explores an Australian statebased programme designed to improve the opportunities for women to become leaders in sport organisations.The programme was initiated due to low number of women leaders in sport.In particular, 29% of the Victorian state sport associations had women executive officers in 2015 (Sport and Recreation Victoria, 2015).
Specifically, our study looked at whether social learning occurred through the programme, and if this learning facilitated the implementation of changes to organisational practices to expand opportunities for women as leaders, using the three outcome actions identified by Reed et al. (2010).

Research context
The study involved a 12-month intervention programme which was part of a governmentled initiative.The programme was the first of its kind: facilitated by the Director, Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (OWSR); and conducted with two groups (8 each) of statebased sport organisations Chief Executive Officers (CEOs).The participating sports had 6-80 employees, a large membership base, and were actively engaging in gender inclusion efforts.The CEOs had been in their current role from 2 to 15 years and their CEO experience ranged from 2 to 20 years.
The programme included evolving social interactions designed to create a CoP, with bimonthly three-hour sessions.The aim was to enhance individual leadership capability, and comprised: professional development, thought leadership, listen and learn development, and gender inclusion experts both within and external to sport.Case studies from each organisation were discussed and common issues were identified to provide opportunities for reflection, new insights and identification of inclusive organisational practices.
The programme intervention met the requirements of a CoP (Wenger et al., 2002).First, the domain of knowledge focused on women as leaders in sport.Second, CEOs from state sport associations shared a common concern about the need to enhance opportunities to encourage women as leaders in their sport.Finally, learnings were gained and experiences shared on organisational practices implemented to encourage women as leaders.

Data collection
To explore social learning outcomes, two sources of data were collected.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants post-programme to explore their learnings.During pre and post programmes, the Gender Equality Diagnostic Tool (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2019) was used to identify organisational practices related to encouraging women as leaders.Concepts underpinned by social learning, in particular Reed et al. (2010), provided theoretical guidance through the inquiry and data analysis.This framing permitted themes to emerge from the process and through the data collected and analysed.In regards to author positionality, one author presented general findings during a programme session from pre and post responses gained from the Monitor Framework and knew the majority of participants in the programme.The other author was not involved in the programme or unaware of participant names.

Interviews
Every participant involved in the programme was invited to be interviewed (n = 16), and all accepted the invite (15 men, 1 woman).Interviews were conducted in person, averaged approximately one hour and were held at the participant's preferred time and location.Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim.One researcher conducted all the interviews.Notes in the form of research memos were taken during and soon after each interview to record information.In this case, theoretical memos were taken that focused on emerging themes and findings from the interview process (Schatzman & Strauss, 1973).
The semi-structured interviews provided structure and flexibility.Structure was derived from the ability to ask questions that target information on a particular topic (Bryman, 2012), flexibility allowed interviewees to digress and discuss matters important from their perspective, which can be relevant matters the researcher did not consider at the onset of the research (Brinkmann, 2013).Questions focused on identifying if social learning had occurred, whether this was at the individual or organisational level based on the three social learning outcome actions (Reed et al., 2010).Example questions included: "Explain any learnings you may have gained as a result from this program" (change of understanding); "Describe any learnings that may have expanded beyond you and into your organisation" (goes beyond the individual); and "Explain your thoughts about the interaction involved in this program" (social interaction between stakeholders).

Monitor framework
The Gender Equality Diagnostic Tool was presented during the initial programme session to assist participants benchmark and identify organisational practices implemented to encourage women as leaders in their organisation.The Tool comprised a framework and guide, and has been widely adopted by many different industry sectors throughout Australia that aim to advance women as leaders.The first author of this study met with each participant to further discuss its application to their respective organisation.A key aspect involved participants identifying current practices associated with 11 focus areas including the following: stakeholder engagement; leadership accountability; strategy and business case; measurement and reporting gender composition; policies and processes; supply chain; gender pay equity; flexibility; talent pipeline; leader and manager capability; and gender inclusive culture.The Tool required participants to assess their progress on each focus area using a self-rating scale.
After populating the framework, participants emailed it to the research investigator to review and provide feedback to clarify current and proposed organisational practices for the following 11 months.A presentation of the overall results (organisations de-identified) was given during a subsequent programme session where challenges, opportunities and good practice examples were discussed as a group.At the conclusion of the programme, the process was repeated to identify any changes that had occurred and actions taken to propose further changes for the following year.This pre and post programme processes enabled us to benchmark change and identify what (if any) new practices had been implemented to encourage women as leaders in the respective organisations and were common cross-organisational practices.

Data analysis
The use of different data sources was incorporated to address our research aim and validate data (Fusch et al., 2018).The interviews were analysed for key themes identified and the monitor framework provided evidence to validate social learning outcomes.NVIVO 12 was used to assist the reflective thematic analysis of the data (Zamawe, 2015).
The use of multiple investigators was adopted to validate data coding and themes (Bryman, 2012).The authors, experienced in qualitative analysis, first familiarised themselves with the data by repeatedly reading the transcripts, research memos and monitor frameworks.After the analysis, for example, of the interviews by one author, the other author independently reviewed the preliminary coding and analysis.A comparison of coding decisions was then conducted until agreement was achieved (MacPhail et al., 2016).Finally, employing illustrative examples from the transcripts and monitor frameworks relating to the themes was incorporated (McArdle et al., 2010).The analytical process was conducted until no new themes emerged (Strauss & Corbin, 1998).The development of codes and themes enabled a "coherent and compelling interpretation of the data, grounded in the data" (Braun & Clarke, 2019, p. 6), as reflected in the findings.

Findings
Findings from the two data sources identified learnings gained, and actions taken, by the 16 CEOs involved in a CoP intervention programme focused on expanding opportunities for women as leaders in sport organisations.To assist with confidentiality of participants and their organisations, pseudonym names have been used in this paper.

Interview themes
The interview analysis identified individual and group learning.These included: (i) personal/ professional development; (ii) interactions to advance women as leaders; (iii) barriers to interaction; and (iv) structural programme enablers.
Personal/professional development Respondents, regardless of the number of years experienced as a CEO, believed interacting with the other participants to discuss how organisational opportunities open for women as leaders can beimpactful to their personal and professional development.Comments included, "Collaborating with other CEOs, and the things you would learn not just around encouraging women as leaders, just the way of being a better, more progressive CEO" (Max, four years CEO experience) and "I've spoken to guys from the other group and they've spoken in the same sense that they felt it was a great process and opportunity to give you some headspace" (Tony, six years CEO experience).
The time to self-reflect on practices was valued: "When you give them some clear air and time to reflect and work on yourself, it was really beneficial.I've never been in a situation like that in my time in sport" (Geoff, 10 years CEO experience).Similar was the recognition of investing in the professional development of CEOs, " … we focus on staff development, but often at the neglect our own development.To have someone else invest in us with other leaders, was really beneficial to think about yourself, and your own leadership and development" (Brad, five years CEO experience).
Interactions to advance women as leaders One of the key benefits identified by respondents was the learnings gained by the shared experiences with other CEOs.This was particularly noted by the majority of CEOs who were in the initial stages of establishing targeted practices to encourage women as leaders.The conversations conducted during each meeting in the programme stimulated ideas to implement women in leadership strategies within their respective organisation.Reinforced by Geoff (initial stages of targeted practices), "I think that opportunity was really experiential change.It was the idea that not only are we learning, but we are collectively interacting in that learning and that was very useful".These learnings were from a personal and organisational perspective: "The benefit was learning what other organisations do, what we could do … And me as a leader, in my management style, what I could maybe do better, differently, or enhance" (David, initial stages of targeted practices).Respondents believed these new learnings "sets you up for the next engagement together on a really strong footing" (Frank, established targeted practices).Four forms of interaction were referred to by all respondents including the following: awareness raising; momentum building; important conversations; and the provision of a supportive, respective collegiate network.
Awareness Raising.To work together in the programme, share experiences and learn from each other were key drivers in awareness raising around women in leadership and associated good practice case studies.Respondents indicated that sharing CEO experiences on similar issues and challenges was instrumental to improve their general awareness and address issues.As typified by Sarah (six years CEO experience), the experience of interacting together "opened the eyes of these males".Yet at the same time Sarah, being the only woman involved in the programme, believed the programme sessions provided an "opportunity to come together in a meaningful way and not have too much on your agenda that you have to rush through things.Taking time to learn was really important for me".As a result the programme assisted to stimulate her to change organisational practices to assist women advance as leaders including the importance "to go back and review if there is a gender pay gap, you have to make it a priority" and "the need for constant review of policies".Without the focused interactive discussions respondents acknowledged … they would never have thought about some of these issues that confront women, so how do you as leaders, male CEOs address and fix it?I thought that was a reality test for all of us, to make sure we understand that's the case.(Bill, eight years CEO experience) Awareness raising created changes to practices, as explained by Tom (11 years CEO experience): If people are aware then they can make better informed decisions.And it just becomes standard business, not an extra initiative.We now make sure that there's equal representation on our imagery, on our panels, on our senior leadership team and when we're presenting to organisations.
Respondents collectively saw this learning experience to address women in leadership as "important".It disrupted the status quo, made them aware of their "poor practices" and alerted them of the "need for action, resource allocation, and attention".As typified by Frank (20 years CEO experience), "In a funny way, it's highlighted our deficiencies.I'm now aware of the lack of women as executives who apply for these positions, I'm conscious of it, which is the beginning of the journey".
Momentum Building.Respondents were vocal about the way in which shared current role experiences resulted in building momentum in their own leadership and organisations.They spoke about a subsequent "organisational push", indicating that understanding what other organisations were doing to address women in leadership issues worked to "Relight the flame" in their own organisations and initiate strategies.Brad (five years in current role) noted, "The journey has been accelerated" through the conversations and learnings from others.
As a result of discussions conducted during programme sessions, the need to sustain the focus on women in leadership was noted.As recognised by Brett (eight years in current role), "It's not a sit and forget.I'm coming back to the efforts periodically and we keep the momentum going, that's been really important to me".Xavier (five years in current role) also noted: You're able to take a special look inside your own organisation and identify areas where progress and improvement can and still need to be made.It also doubles your commitment to solidify the ground, the good work that's going on and not to take that for granted.
Important Conversations.All respondents pointed to the benefit in generating important conversations around women in leadership between the CEOs and, by extension, within their organisations.(Tom, six years in current role) explained: The main difference now is having a connection with a CEO where there is far more meaningful and deeper conversations about workforce and importantly women's participation in our organisations, and the leadership opportunities that we create to make sure we have a gender represented workforce moving forward.
Guest speakers who presented during programme sessions on women in leadership strategies in sport, encouraged CEOs to "be inclusive and open minded about what women as leaders genuinely mean[s]" (Tony, three years in current role).In addition, CEOs referred to common beliefs and shared values around inclusiveness that occurred through formal and informal conversations within the programme which " … encouraged everyone to really open up and share a bit about themselves, and that establishes a degree of trust and openness for future collaboration.That was really powerful" (Sarah, six years in current role).As reinforced by Bill (six years in current role) " … just having those informal discussions around what each of us were doing on promoting women's leadership in our organisations was really useful to hear".
The sense that respondents could trust the confidentiality to raise and discuss issues between CEOs involved was seen to engender a certain openness and candour: "I thought that everyone was really open and honest about their appraisal on where their organisations were in regards to this, and how much time they've actually spent looking into this" (Cam, two years in current role).Xavier (five years in current role) stated, " … the trust to be able to go and speak to another colleague without it feeling like you're a failure or not doing your job well, that's probably the best thing".The collaboration also provided "reassurance" that each organisation was facing similar challenges: "Sometimes … from the outside [we] see nice, shiny Instagram post[s] from someone and think, 'Oh they've got it sorted.'But generally when you scratch the surface, everyone's working overtime to get it done" (David, 12 years in current role).
A Supportive, Respectful Collegiate Network.Another benefit was the supportive network created for the first time amongst these CEOs.Max (four years CEO experience) appreciated "the support mechanism" that was established within the programme, while Frank (20 years CEO experience) acknowledged it made individuals "stronger together".The interactions were viewed as a conduit to resource and idea sharing and the potency to have a collegiate and respectful network of leaders.As noted by Cam (two years CEO experience), "I think when you've got a respected, respectful, and forceful voice in the leadership that we had, it's a very potent combination".As a result, a sense of support was gained, as typified by Tom (11 years CEO experience): "I'm a lot more comfortable now, to talk about a wider range of topics, and ask for help and offer advice back and forward.So it's really promoted that collegiate approach".

Barriers to interaction
Respondents, regardless of the number of employees they employed, identified two key barriers associated with being involved in the programme.These comprised competition and differences between organisations, and lack of sustainability.
Competition and Differences Between Organisations.Respondents explained that honesty can be hampered in a competitive environment and genuine collaboration was sometimes difficult when the organisations are "competitive by nature".Competition was referred to when some sports have been traditionally known to compete for the same players or have poached a leader from one organisation to another.Many respondents saw this competition as a significant challenge, stating "I think there's a natural guardedness that there's potentially some competitors in the room" (Bill, over 40 employees) and "I've felt that there's something that goes with competition that locks down the notion of collaboration" (Brett, under 40 employees).
The differences between organisations that the CEOs represented including structure, size and foci, was a notable barrier.Sarah (over 40 employees) explained, "Every organisation is totally different in terms of structure and size.And that presented different challenges".David (under 40 employees) also explained, "I think one of the challenges is, when you've got tiny little sport organisations and then big beasts … I can't compare and contrast anything I do to something that has four or 5,000 employees, so that's a challenge … they just face different challenges".While the differences between organisations was a noted barrier to align with shared experiences, Cam (under 40 employees) indicated despite the "diversity and differences", effective interaction was possible.
Lack of Sustainability.A few respondents recognised the programme ended abruptly and post-intervention this was a barrier to ongoing interaction.Respondents saw the benefit of keeping "things going rather than jerking to [a] deadline" (Geoff, 10 years CEO experience).As noted by Xavier (five years CEO experience), "it just ended abruptly given that if it had continued, we probably would've maintained that momentum".The participants were left with the unanswered question, "How do you facilitate that ongoing collaboration?" (Frank, 20 years CEO experience).

Structural programme enablers
The respondents identified two enablers associated with the programme structure which stimulated interaction, reflection and action by the CEOs involved.These included the provision of a safe space and effective programme facilitation.
A Safe Space.One of the key enablers of the programme was the safe space in which respondents felt able to be open and honest with other experienced CEOs of sporting organisations.Comments included the environment created by the facilitator allowed "you to be totally present, to stretch out, be vulnerable, and share, and this allowed us to get a lot more back" (Bill, eight years CEO experience).Tom (11 years CEO experience) noted that the open environment enabled a sense that: What you share with us is going to be treated sensitively, confidentially and appropriately.You're going to be challenged but not judged in the way you learn and take on board the information.It was really great pivoting between provocation and nurture, part of the nurture was exposure, learning and insight.It was really effective.
Effective programme Facilitation.The shared experiences and strong interaction, according to respondents, was enabled by the effective facilitation of the programme.It provided a platform to raise awareness and share knowledge, current practices and opportunities.Cam (two years in current role) acknowledged the facilitator "was a catalyst to provide information and bring people together".Max (four years in current role) indicated there was a "sense of comfort, trust and being able to share some information amongst the group … probably says a lot about the facilitation of the process".Others liked having pre-determined dates with someone to drive the faceto-face sessions.
The scheduled sessions provided a "checking point" for participants.As explained by Tom (six years in current role), the sessions were "well organised, well facilitated, and there was never a moment where you thought, 'Ah, what's going on here?',because everyone knew why they were there and what they were doing".The facilitation of these sessions enabled participants to "stop for half a day and just focus" (Tony, three years in current role).

Monitor framework analysis
Comparing pre and post intervention results of all 16 CEOs had implemented an increased range of strategies to expand opportunities for women as leaders across most of the 11 focus areas.Strategies deployed by three or more of the 16 CEOs are noted in Table 1.After each strategy in the table, the number of CEOs who implemented this strategy is recognised.
Pre-programme strategies were sparse, consisting mainly of general organisational approaches to encourage "diversity and inclusion" rather than to specifically address women as leaders.No strategies were identified in the focus area of Supply Chain (encourage suppliers to activate gender equality strategies).Post-programme, data shows CEOs reported implementation of specific strategies targeted to increase women as leaders.For example, in regards to the focus area of Policy and Processes, two strategies were in place pre-programme, an additional six were implemented post-programme across a wider group of organisations.These new strategies related to developing, implementing and annually monitoring related policies, and gaining feedback from women in their organisations.Two focus areas that had the most number of strategies applied post-programme were Leadership Accountability (n = 8) and Flexibility (n = 7).
Popular strategies introduced by the majority of CEOs (n = 13) were in two focus areas; sourcing accurate gender data across their sport (Measurement and Reporting Gender Composition) and providing organisation-wide training that included unconscious bias and discriminatory behaviour (Gender Inclusive Culture).The next two most common strategies reported (n = 11) were the identification of a range of stakeholders to collaborate with to assist, develop and implement strategies into their organisation and across their sport to advance women as leaders (Stakeholder Engagement); and to gather and analyse pay equity data and action accordingly (Gender Pay Equity).
Most respondents (n = 10) indicated they were at the early stages of strategic efforts to address the focus areas of Supply Chain and Gender Pay Equity.As a result, a limited number of strategies were identified for each area (n = 2).

Discussion and conclusion
The purpose of this study was to identify whether social learning occurred through the programme, and if this learning facilitated the implementation of changes to organisational practices to expand opportunities for women as leaders.The findings demonstrated that the CoP programme intervention created social learning outcomes, and the collective support provided the impetus to increase opportunities for women as leaders in sport organisations.
The aggregate themes identified from the post-intervention interviews captured key aspects of the social interactions that occurred between CEOs during the programme.These included awareness raising, momentum building, conversations to gain insights, and the creation of a supportive, respectful collegiate network.The learnings gained within this social network resulted in action.The monitor framework analysis identified an increased range of strategies implemented in the quest to expand opportunities for women to become leaders in each of the 16 sport organisations.
Evidence that social learning outcomes (Reed et al., 2010) had been achieved was not limited to the reported increases in womenfocussed organisational initiatives, but also in the empowerment and solidarity narratives present in the CEO interviews.Each participant spoke about the positive change in their knowledge and understanding at both a surface and deeper level.This knowledge created a sense of confidence and empowerment where being part of a CoP meant learnings expanded beyond the individual and its application into their organisation.The formation of a social network within the CoP programme was crucial in expanding the social learnings of each individual through social interactions within and between group members.Conversations conducted during the CoP programme stimulated ideas for the CEOs to implement strategies within their respective organisations.The outcomes of this are evident in data collected from the monitor frameworks.For example, in the focus of area of "Measurement and Reporting Gender Composition", pre-programme 12 of 16 CEOs reported they had inaccurate or missing gender-based data on senior leadership positions within their sport.In discussing the results of the monitor framework, including gender compositions, during a group session the CEOs recognised the importance of accurate data and their organisation's knowledge gap in this respect.This discussion led to collective action, and post-programme, 13 CEOs reported their organisation now had accurate data.Furthermore, five of these CEOs reported their organisation was considering strengthening the gender composition by introducing quotas for senior leadership positions.Organisational change occurred through enabling organisational practice and individual commitment to women in leadership, a recognised pathway to greater gender equality (Cunningham, 2008).However, despite group discussion on the need for accurate recording of genderbased data, three CEOs still reported that their organisation did not hold this information.The lack of progress on a key baseline requirement in addressing gender inequalities is not an indication that the CEO failed to acknowledge the need for change or improvement in a focus area, as structural barriers and organisation culture can be major obstacles to change (Richards et al., 2020).
The reported change in knowledge, understanding and appreciation of actions that could be taken to improve women's leadership opportunities, prompted the CEOs to introduce a range of strategies as a planned response gained from insights during the CoP programme.These included developmental and transitional (Welty Peachey & Bruening, 2012) responses.For example, the self-reported "awareness raising" gained by the CEOs during the CoP programme highlighted welldocumented issues related to the recruitment, development and retention of women leaders in sport (cf.Banu-Lawrence et al., 2020).As a result, human resource management approaches to gender equality taken by each organisation were openly discussed and critiqued, and the collective CoP discussions facilitated actions to introduce more effective strategies.The CEOs reported stimulating change not only within their organisation but also in creating a ripple effect across other associated sports.Strategies that emerged as a result of the intervention, CoP and social learning included: gender data collection for all management levels; the provision of organisation-wide training; alignment of targeted partners/stakeholders; and pay equity data analysis.These changes to practice were evident across sports, reinforcing the positive outcomes associated with social networking, knowledge transfer between individuals, a network for sharing ideas, assistance with problem solving and organisational learnings (Barnes et al., 2017).Taking a CoP approach meant that the CEOs could draw on the group's collective knowledge, experiences and support to expand opportunities for women as leaders, which in turn provided validity, increased confidence and stimulation to create change.
The positive outcomes associated with a social learning approach (Reed et al., 2010), may have contributed to the stimulant for the majority of CEOs who initiated targeted stakeholder engagement to assist create opportunities for women in sport leadership.The successes of the CoP studied in this research, are not dissimilar to those found in wider communities of practice within sport (Willem et al., 2019) and elsewhere (Li et al., 2009).
The CoP emerged from an individual-based, sector driven, shared problem approach, and thus was embodied with different characteristics from inter-organisational partnerships which are formed to share resources and build organisational capacity (Hambrick et al., 2019).Our study showed that creating a conducive non-threatening environment is vital to stimulate social learning and create a social network built on trust, knowledge sharing, openness and support.In doing so the group evolved to become a CoP which stimulated interaction, a desire to learn and the common goal of addressing a shared concern, the lack of women in sport leadership roles, in order to create change within and across sport organisations.The programme provided a safe space in which to be honest and share experiences and was supported by effective programme facilitation that enabled open interaction.The CoP was built through regular meetings that instilled commitment, built rapport and allowed sufficient time for meaningful interactions.
In terms of implications for practice, while the programme produced a number of positive outcomes, challenges needed to be acknowledged and addressed between group members.The CEOs were from sport organisations which were in direct and indirect competition with each other, and organisational differences existed in size, scale, resources and strategic direction.Unlike other studies which have pointed to inter organisational collaborations being compromised through lack of trust and unequal power sharing (cf Babiak & Thibault, 2009), participants in our study stressed the benefits of collaboration more than counterbalanced the competition concerns.Challenges perceived by participants would be important to recognise and discuss at the start of a CoP programme, to address how these could be overcome and thereby assist create a conducive, trusting and productive environment.
The sport sector needs robust, effective and impactful approaches that can tackle industrywide systemic structural and cultural challenges such as building the number of women in leadership roles in sport.Creating cross-sport CoPs can provide impetus and capacity by leveraging resources and competencies of individuals and their organisations.Although much research has examined challenges and tensions in organisational partnerships, few studies have tracked the pre and post interventions that promote shared learning and the actioning of collaborative derived strategies and solutions.The results from our research provide insight on the important contribution a governmentled programme can make to inspire organisational change.In doing so, we address the gap in the literature on the extent to which government bodies may enhance learning in a CoP and ensure knowledge sharing (Willem et al., 2019).
The positive interactions between CEOs in the current CoP programme created a social network that drove change.However, despite the success of this network, and the CEOs expressed support for its continuation; 1 year after the completion of the programme the social network no longer existed.This raises questions about the commitment participants had to continue with the network, notwithstanding the barriers noted in the findings section.To assist with the effectiveness of the programme and sustainability of the network, building in a transition process towards the end of the programme focused on leading to a self-sufficient network should be considered.For a CoP to be sustainable and not rely on external funding or facilitation, participants need to commit to its continuation through facilitating ongoing interactions (Culver et al., 2017).Continuing social connections and building learning communities has the potential to maintain the knowledge sharing and drive collective action (Misener & Doherty, 2012).Following a CoP over a substantial time period through longitudinal research could identify what aspects contribute to a sustained network, or its demise, while also providing evidence attributable to social learning outcomes.This approach could also identify the impact the CoP has to attract and retain increased numbers of women in sport leadership.
Longitudinal research could also focus on the transition of knowledge brokers post a CoP programme, including from a governing body to a collective sport industry network, to facilitate ongoing social learning and collaboration.The reliance on cultivating and fostering a healthy CoP is having a knowledge broker (Conklin et al., 2013).In the case of the current programme, the CoP however was too reliant on the facilitator and in consequence ended at the same time as the programme.Findings reveal the need for less reliance on individual leaders (de Vries, 2015), in this case the facilitator, and more on the practice of championing gender equity stimulated by a group (CEOs).At the same time, gender change is related to the commitment of individuals to embed organisational practice which becomes an organisation's inclusive value position and transformational culture.
An opportunity arises to design a more userfriendly diagnostic tool.After this programme, a revised version included an increased number of focus areas (from 11 to 17, see https:// www.wgea.gov.au/tools/gender-strategytoolkit).Reflective questions have been included in the Tool to guide managers on potential strategies to incorporate in each area.The number of focus areas, however, could become daunting rather than inviting, particularly for state sport organisations that need to "juggle" governance between the national bodies and local clubs.One option is to create a "manageable" streamlined monitor framework for grassroots, state and national organisations within a sport to enable benchmarking and monitoring of strategies targeted to women as leaders.Research into what "manageable" entails would need to be conducted.
Findings from our research extend from existing theory related to CoP (Wenger et al., 2002) and social learning outcomes (Reed et al., 2010).First, through following the development of a CoP, we were able to elicit the participant's perspectives and experiences related to expanding opportunities for women as leaders and track the specific actions and changes that occurred through the collaboration.Second, the social learning outcomes gained in a CoP sport-setting comprising senior, predominantly male, leaders shows that focused actions can occur, in this case to create organisational change leading to the provision of greater opportunities for women to assume leadership roles in sport.
The findings amplified the importance of addressing a societal problem from a social learning lens through a collaborative intervention that spanned a range of sport organisations, adding to and broadening previous research in this field (Wicker et al., 2011;Misener & Doherty, 2013).It is our contention that the systemic, and seemingly persistent, challenge of ensuring women achieve equality of opportunity to lead sport needs to be tackled through new ways of working, learning, and innovating.Creating communities of practice with a shared vison for change has the potential to be highly beneficial in facilitating synergistic collaboration across the sport sector to reshape, reform and revamp organisations to create greater opportunities for women's leadership aspirations.