Meanings Given to Performance in Dutch Sport Organizations: Gender and Racial/Ethnic Subtexts

This article focuses on the dominant meanings given by coaches and managers to “performance” in Dutch (amateur) sport clubs and how such meanings contribute to organizational processes related to (the intersection of) gender and race/ethnicity. We use the results of six studies conducted in (amateur) sport organizations in the Netherlands for this discussion/exploration. We argue that the relatively slow increase in the number of women and ethnic minorities in leadership positions can in part be explained by the dominant meanings given to “performance.” We also show how the salience of the intersection between gender and race/ethnicity is situation-specific.