Level the Playing Field to Bolster the Boardroom: Sports as a Springboard for Women's Labor Force Advancement in Asia

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.12124
• Author: Barbara Kotschwar,Kevin Stahler
• Date: 01 January 2016
• Published date: 01 January 2016

Level the Playing Field to Bolster the

Boardroom: Sports as a Springboard for

Women’s Labor Force Advancement in Asia

Barbara KOTSCHWAR† and Kevin STAHLER

Peterson Institute for International Economics

We promote women’s participation in sports as part of a solution to better integrate women into

the labor force of Asian economies. Women in Asia lag other regions in terms of labor force par-

ticipation and membership in corporate leadership bodies; this is particularly acute in East Asia.

Involvement in sport has been found to be associated with long-term economic benefits for

women internationally, including enhanced returns to education and labor outcomes. We propose

a number of sports program-related policies for Asian countries to consider in order to better inte-

grate women into education, society, labor, and corporate boardrooms.

Key words: corporate gender balance, education, labor, sports, women

JEL codes: I24, J00, J16, M14

1. Introduction

Then-World Bank President Robert Zoellick’s proclamation that “the empowerment of

women is smart economics” aptly summarizes the growing consensus among economists

and policymakers that giving women equal access to education and the workforce will

have positive multiplier effects on the economy.1This principle is embodied in policies

such as US Title IX, which prevents gender discrimination in educational access, Den-

mark’s corporate board gender quota, which seeks to bring more women into corporate

leadership positions, and most recently, Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s womenomics and

similar policies in South Korea, as Asian countries work to better enlist women in their

quest for economic growth.

Gender equity links to economic growth and development through a number of

channels. When girls and boys have the same access to education, skills accrue more

evenly across the population. When workforce barriers to participation are eliminated,

employers can pick from a larger talent pool, selecting the best candidates based on

achievement and merit. Reducing the gender gap can increase labor productivity and

improve a country’s human capital. As Bill Gates famously stated,“if you’re not fully uti-

lizing half the talent in your country, you’re not going to get close to the top”.2

Across the globe, girls’ access to education has improved significantly over the past

decades. Many countries have met the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of achiev-

ing equal access to education for boys and girls; in many cases, in fact, girls now receive

†Correspondence: Barbara Kotschwar, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 1750 Mas-

sachusetts Avenue, Northwest,Washington, DC 20036, USA. Email: kotschwb@georgetown.edu

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doi: 10.1111/aepr.12124 Asian Economic Policy Review (2016) 11, 117–134

© 2016 Japan Center for Economic Research 117

more education than boys. These gains are being translated into the workforce. Female

labor force participation has increased significantly in many countries, and more and

more women have joined the managerial ranks. Yet in many countries, female labor par-

ticipation lags relative to educational attainment. This is particularly true at higher man-

agement levels, where women’s participation on corporate boards and among the

executive ranks remains very low.

Policymakers in Asia and beyond can implement a number of measures to correct

this imbalance, from promoting the education of girls to workforce gender equity. We

propose one additional measure that – as part of a multiprong approach – can help

foster long-term economic growth and societal gender equity: enhancing women and

girls’ access to participation in sport.

2. How Can Sports Help Women Succeed?

Participation in sports has long been shown to have measurable positive effects on other

aspects of life.3Sport can enhance academic achievement and lead to more positive

life outcomes. Researchers have also shown that participation in sport can enhance

labor force participation and leadership through a number of direct or indirect causal

channels:

•By contributing to enhanced mental and physical health, which in turn feeds into

productivity;

•By developing human capital and soft skills (teamwork, confidence, leadership,

discipline, etc.), which are desirable to employers;

•By expanding one’s social network, which has been widely demonstrated to play

an important role in labor markets.

Advocating sports participation to bring about better academic and workplace out-

comes may seem counterintuitive. One reasonableconcern is that increased participation

in sports would crowd out study time essential to academic achievement. Particularly, if

women lag in education and skills, should they not spend any additional time they have

on their studies? A number of academic papers put this fear to rest. A 1999 study of stu-

dents in Hong Kong found no evidence that sport participation threatens academic

achievement (Lindner, 1999). A Malaysian study found “excessive indulgence” – three or

more sports per week – to have a negative impact on academic performance, but moder-

ate participation in sports, two or fewer per week, did not affect students’ academic out-

comes (Jagdeep et al., 2008). Studies in Germany (Corneliβen and Pfeifer, 2010),

Pakistan (Younis Khan et al., 2012), and the USA (Fejgin, 2001; Broh, 2002; Videon,

2002; Miller et al., 2005; Lumpkin & Favor, 2012; Veliz & Shakib, 2014) all find positive

academic returns to sport participation: student athletes, on average, earn higher grades,

graduate at higher rates, and drop out of school less frequently than non-athletes.

In addition to the ethical value of offering women the same access to these gains as

men, a growing body of literature links female involvement in sports to desirable out-

comes in sexual health and disease prevention, social development, educational achieve-

ment, overall labor force participation, corporate management, and leadership. Some

Sports as a Springboard for Women in Asia Barbara Kotschwar and Kevin Stahler

© 2016 Japan Center for Economic Research118