'Deporte y Cambio Social': Women's Empowerment SDP Program in Mexico

Abstract

Mexico is ranked as the second lowest country in the world in labor force participation, and income and wage disparities specific to women (Gender Gap Report, 2019). “Deporte y Cambio Social” was a train-the-trainer sport-based program grounded in the Social Change Model (SCM; HERI, 1996) that used soccer as a vehicle to explore women empowerment and leadership development in Mexico. Three semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with 18 Mexican women (n = 10) and men (n = 8; Mage = 23) coaches who completed the program. Using a social constructivist framework, reflexive thematic analysis was used to examine the data. Participants reported that their perceptions of leadership and gender changed, and they identified SCM-related and non SCM-related values as program outcomes alongside increasing their knowledge and desire to create social change for Mexican women. The utility of the SCM within the sport context is under explored and provides opportunity for further research. Future programming should focus on increasing community members’ awareness of deeply ingrained gendestereotypes and leadership inequalities.