‘Much better than the rest of the world, but there is still a lot to do’: Promoting gender equality in Nordic esports

In this study, we will approach gender equality in esports as an organisational question, focusing specifically on gender discrimination as an integrity and governance issue in (inter)national esports federations in a specific geographical and cultural context. We will explore how esports federations in the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland) aim to promote gender equality in their operations – and the tensions and challenges involved in this process. Our material consists of seven thematic semi-structured interviews with representatives of national esports federations in the Nordic countries.

Our analysis focuses on three research questions:

RQ1: How do representatives of the Nordic esports federations understand their current gender equality situation?

RQ2: What steps are these organisations taking to promote gender equality in Nordic esports?

RQ3: What kind of tensions and challenges relate to these conceptions and goals?

To answer these questions, we will explore our interview material reflected against the gendered structures in esports organisations and governance as well as the idea of gender equality as part of the ‘Nordic brand.’ Our findings will demonstrate that while gender equality is described as a central goal and value shared amongst the Nordic esports federations, there are also some tensions and challenges in the way of pursuing this goal, including a lack of clear value definitions, goals, and strategies, a limited and uncertain perspective of the target group of gender equality actions, the contested question of gender segregation as an inclusion tool, and financial constraints. Without specific strategies and matching tangible practices for improving gender equality, there is also a significant risk that the perceived shared goal to pursue gender equality will remain at the level of brand talk instead of creating real change.