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Abstract
This thesis investigates how sports organisations and discourses have impacted on the sports participation of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia. A series of national participation studies have documented that women from minority ethnic backgrounds have significantly lower participation rates in sports and physical activity than Anglo-Australian women. However, the explanations and dimensions of this difference have not been examined in previous research. The experiences of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are used in this thesis to explore sports discourses and organisation and the embodiments of their interrelationship.
The present research proposes that sports organisations and discourses within Australia have historically served to marginalise women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The arguments for this position are explored using a local narrative which details the situated nature of women¡¯s experiences of sports. These experiences are located within a historical context that traces migration policies, the growth and development of sports and women¡¯s social relations since white settlement of Australia. It is argued that contemporary sports discourses and organisation are inextricably tied to Australia¡¯s colonial and imperialist past.
Theories of ethnicity, gender and sports are analysed. The theoretical perspective taken in this thesis builds on feminist ideologies and ethnicity studies. Empirical analysis is undertaken using gender relations to situate sport as a site of cultural struggles best understood through investigations of history and diversity. Aspects of power, control and influence are central to this thesis.
The empirical component of this thesis uses secondary data sources, surveys and interviews to investigate the research proposition. This is achieved on two levels. The first level interrogates existing data to create a macro level analysis of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in sports. A survey of 972 schoolgirls was undertaken to collect information on sports participation and attitudes to sports. This was followed by 30 interviews with women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds that explored individual sports experiences and perspectives on sports.
The second level of investigation employed the case study of netball to examine the research question as it related to a specific sports organisation. The case study component of the research involved document and archival analysis, a survey of 372 netball players and interviews with 18 women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and former and current netball administrators.
The thesis analyses the empirical data as it relates to the organisation and discourse of sports in Australia. The principal conclusion reached is that sports organisation and discourses are located within a societal power structure that places women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds on its margins. Sports participation is predicated on conformity to existing cultural practices and expectations and it does little to facilitate cultural diversity. The women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who participated in the research did not perceive sports as particularly inclusive of gender and culture. The examination of netball demonstrated that netball has not been concerned with ¡®other¡¯ women, rather it has focussed its efforts on appealing to ¡®mainstream¡¯ women. While netball has not explicitly excluded the involvement of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, neither has it actively encouraged cultural diversity.
This thesis makes a contribution to knowledge in the field of sports studies with its empirical research and through the ensuing development of a framework for locating the implications of inclusion or exclusion in sports organisations and discourses. This understanding can be used to assess and inform future sports policy development and practice. Principally, the thesis seeks to acknowledge and legitimise the sports experiences of women from diverse backgrounds and in doing so provides insights into a better theoretical understanding about the nexus of gender, ethnicity and sports.