Gender Stereotypes and Discrimination in Sports and Esports Industry: A Systemic Review of Causes and Statistics

Abstract

There are many inequalities existing in our world, including gender inequality and race inequality. These inequalities are caused by discrimination and stereotypes. In sports industry, the problem of gender discrimination and stereotypes is common. Female athletes and women who want to work in sport industry are confronting the problem of gender discrimination and stereotypes. In addition, a rising industry, esports industry, has the same problem. The aim of this study was to review the current state of gender discrimination and stereotypes in sports industry and causes of it. This paper reviews relevant references to give a holistic review of the current state of gender discrimination and stereotypes in sports industry, including statistics and background information, and this paper reviews the causes of this problem from macro-level, meso-level, and micro-level. The findings of this paper indicated that although sports organizations gave policies that seem to solve the problem, gender discrimination and stereotypes still exist in both sports and esports industry. Therefore, by examining the causes of the problem of gender discrimination and stereotypes in sports industry, future study can be more targeted while they are investigating the way to solve the problem.