The Glass Ceiling in the Sport Industry: Spanish Version of the Women as Managers Scale (WAMS)

Abstract

The pace of women’s access to leadership positions is very different from country to country. With 69.4 out of 100 points, Spain ranks fourth in the European Union (EU) on social power, first measured in the 2020 edition of the Gender Equality Index. However, a need of deepening the reasons for gender inequalities remains. The Women As Managers Scale (WAMS) is a useful tool that allows for the measurement of the attitudinal factors that hinder access to managerial positions. The aim of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the WAMS among sport managers through three factors: acceptance of women in key positions, features for business success, and barriers to access to managerial positions. For that purpose, a questionnaire—as is the original WAMS—was distributed to 401 managers working within sports organizations in the community of Madrid, Spain. Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Student’s test were performed to analyze the stability of the scores. The internal consistency of the scales was assessed through Cronbach’s alpha, the Homogeneity Index, and Discriminability Index. The construct validity was completed through exploratory factor analysis using principal components. The results show that the WAMS serves as a reference for use as a measure of attitudinal factors that hinder access to an executive position. Therefore, this work generates an instrument with adequate properties in the Spanish context.