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Alexandra J. Rankin-Wright

Other affiliations: Leeds Beckett University
Bio: Alexandra J. Rankin-Wright is an academic researcher from Durham University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Coaching & Racism. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 12 publications receiving 139 citations. Previous affiliations of Alexandra J. Rankin-Wright include Leeds Beckett University.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that personal lives, relationships, social and family commitments were sidelined by many of the participants in order to meet the expectations of being a (woman) coach, and the complexities of identity are also revealed through the interplay of gender with disability, age and whiteness as evidence of hegemonic femininity within the coaching profession.
Abstract: In shifting our gaze to the sociological impact of being in the minority, the purpose of this study was to substantiate a model of gendered social well-being to appraise women coaches’ circumstances, experiences and challenges as embedded within the social structures and relations of their profession. This is drawn on in-depth interviews with a sample of head women coaches within the UK. The findings demonstrate that personal lives, relationships, social and family commitments were sidelined by many of the participants in order to meet the expectations of being a (woman) coach. We locate these experiences in the organisational practices of high performance sport which hinder women coaches from having meaningful control over their lives. The complexities of identity are also revealed through the interplay of gender with (dis)ability, age and whiteness as evidence of hegemonic femininity within the coaching profession. Consequently, for many women, coaching is experienced as a ‘developmental dead-end’.

52 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored what particular areas of organizational cultures facilitate the development and progression of women as football coaches and coach developers, and found that three key tenets of organizational culture were most influential on the career development of the participants: journeys and crossroads (the establishment of a learning culture), inclusive leadership, and vertical and horizontal relationships.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore what particular areas of organizational cultures facilitate the development and progression of women as football coaches and coach developers. The English Football Association provided the context for the research. Previous statistics demonstrate that recruitment, retention, and progression of women in English football coaching and tutoring are lower and slower than their male counterparts. In-depth interviews were completed with 26 women coaches and coach developers during November 2015 and February 2016 to understand their personal experiences as linked to the structure and culture of their sporting governing body, and analyzed using Schein’s theory of organizational culture. Three key tenets of organizational culture were found to be most influential on the career development of the participants: journeys and crossroads (the establishment of a learning culture), inclusive leadership, and vertical and horizontal relationships. The research demonstrates the need to identify disparities between espoused values and assumptions to enact cultural change toward supporting more women to be valued, included, and progressed in the sporting workplace.

42 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined how UK sport organizations have framed race equality and diversity, in sport coaching and found that color-blind practices reinforce a denial that race is a salient factor underpinning inequalities in coaching.
Abstract: The article examines how UK sport organizations have framed race equality and diversity, in sport coaching. Semistructured interviews were used to gain insight into organizational perspectives toward ‘race’, ethnicity, racial equality, and whiteness. Using Critical Race Theory and Black feminism, color-blind practices were found to reinforce a denial that ‘race’ is a salient factor underpinning inequalities in coaching. The dominant practices employed by key stakeholders are discussed under three themes: equating diversity as inclusion; fore fronting meritocracy and individual agency; and framing whiteness. We argue that these practices sustain the institutional racialised processes and formations that serve to normalize and privilege whiteness. We conclude that for Black and minoritised ethnic coaches to become key actors in sport coaching in the UK ‘race’ and racial equality need to be centered in research, policy and practice.

30 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a critical examination of the racialised and gendered processes that reinforce disparities in sport coaching by exploring the experiences of Black men and women coaches in the United Kingdom is presented.
Abstract: The current article provides a critical examination of the racialised and gendered processes that reinforce disparities in sport coaching by exploring the experiences of Black men and women coaches in the United Kingdom. The findings are based on in-depth qualitative interviews with coaches from two national governing bodies of sport. Using a Critical Race Theory approach and Black feminist lens, the coaches’ narratives illuminate the complex, multifaceted and dynamic ways in which ‘race’, ethnicity and gender are experienced and negotiated by sport coaches. The coaches’ reflections are discussed under three themes: negotiating identities; privilege and blind spots; and systemic discrimination. The narratives from the coaches’ experiences emphasise the need for key stakeholders in sport to recognise the intersectional, structural and relational experiences that facilitate, as well as constrain, the progression of Black coaches in order to challenge racialised and gendered inequalities.

30 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present new research with a reasonably representative sample of over 1,000 UK coaches that considers the issues and problems, and support networks, from the perspective of the coaches themselves, and suggest that coaches experience a wide range of problems but that they can be broken down into 17 main categories with places to play sport, problems with player-coach interaction, and problems with coaching knowledge and skills, being most frequently mentioned.
Abstract: Although there have been increasing calls to recognise the ‘voice of the coach’ in both policy and research, there has been very little work that has asked the coaches directly: ‘what are your main issues and problems?’, and ‘where do you go for support’? Instead assessments and decisions have been made on these issues by the media, policy-makers, support agencies, governing bodies and researchers with results often reflecting the perspectives and interests of the latter. This paper presents new research with a reasonably representative sample of over 1,000 UK coaches that considers the issues and problems, and support networks, from the perspective of the coaches themselves. The results suggest that coaches experience a wide range of problems but that they can be broken down into 17 main categories with places to play sport (e.g. facilities), problems with player-coach interaction, and problems with coaching knowledge and skills, being most frequently mentioned. In terms of support networks, the coaches tended to look ‘closest to home’: to themselves, their family/friends, participants and parents, and local coaching networks. Governing bodies and coaching associations tend to be less well used. Some implications for policy and practice are discussed.

18 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1985-Ufahamu
TL;DR: A sweeping examination of the core issues of sexual politics, bell hooks's new book Feminist Theory: from margin to center argues that the contemporary feminist movement must establish a new direction for the 1980s.
Abstract: A sweeping examination of the core issues of sexual politics, bell hook's new book Feminist Theory: from margin to center argues that the contemporary feminist movement must establish a new direction for the 1980s. Continuing the debates surrounding her controversial first book, Ain't I A Woman, bell hooks suggests that feminists have not succeeded in creating a mass movem A sweeping examination of the core issues of sexual politics, bell hook's new book Feminist Theory: from margin to center argues that the contemporary feminist movement must establish a new direction for the 1980s. Continuing the debates surrounding her controversial first book, Ain't I A Woman, bell hooks suggests that feminists have not succeeded in creating a mass movement against sexist oppression because the very foundation of women's liberation has, until now, not accounted for the complexity and diversity of female experience.

1,317 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
13 Apr 2018

190 citations

09 Sep 2003
TL;DR: This article analyzed correlates of workers' perceptions of the extent to which their work environment is healthy and how these perceptions influence job satisfaction, employee commitment, workplace morale, absenteeism, and intent to quit.
Abstract: Purpose. This study analyzed correlates of workers' perceptions of the extent to which their work environment is healthy and how these perceptions influence job satisfaction, employee commitment, workplace morale, absenteeism, and intent to quit. Design. One-time cross-sectional telephone survey. Setting. Canadian employees in 2000. Subjects. A randomly chosen, nationally representative sample of 2500 employed respondents, using a household sampling frame. The response rate was 39.2%. Self-employed individuals were excluded, leaving a subsample of 2112 respondents. Measures. The dependent variable was the response to the item, “The work environment is healthy” (5-point strongly agree–strongly disagree Likert scale). Independent variables used in bivariate and ordinary least-squares regression analyses included sociodemo-graphic characteristics, employment status, organizational characteristics, and scales that measured job demands, intrinsic rewards, extrinsic rewards, communication/social suppor...

116 citations