Hey ladies, want to work your way up the corporate ladder? Well, get moving – literally. Executives from the EY Women Athletes Business Network and ESPNW have recently decided that women who have sports experience and an active lifestyle are more likely to find career success.
Longitude Research opened the door for these new insights through their worldwide survey, “Making the Connection: Women, Sport and Leadership”.
Four-hundred women in management positions, half of whom hold a position on the board of directors within their companies, responded to the survey and provided support for a strong connection between sports and professional potential. According to the survey, 52 percent of women in the C-suite (CEOs, CFOs, or COOs) played sports in college and many attribute their success to the competitive drive a sports background fosters.
The same women also acknowledged that sports play a big role in who they hire and who they turn away. Applicants with a sports background, they say, have just the right amount of motivation, work ethic, ambition, and confidence that employers are looking for.
This research seems to confirm what ladies on the athletic track have probably known all their lives. But for every woman who can point to that influential sports background, there are plenty of girls and young women who simply can’t count on the same opportunities. While the results of the survey may seem obvious to some, they could lead to some important changes in the sports world and open new doors for women. “These results underscore how critical it is for girls to have equal access to sport around the world,” Donna de Varona, Lead Advisor to EY’s Women Athletes Business Network and herself an Olympic champion, said. “When they do, the positive results are undeniable.”
–Lucie Hanes
