Welcome everyone. In this video, we will reflect on the reality of race and gender based discrimination in the football work environments. To minority ethnic women who work in the football industry themselves, Maria Malfoy and Katia Ramos will share some of their experiences of making their way up the football leadership ladder. Maria works as an independent football intermediary. Katia Ramos works as a life coach and has experienced with working in football industry. Both women will also talk about some of the skills that helped them to navigate football organizations. In addition to Maria and Katia, the video features an academic expert who has much experience with the football industry, both from a scholarly perspective and from having worked in the football industry herself. Anika Leslie-Walker from the University of Bolton England. He will reflect from a more academic perspective on what the women say. Firstly, we will now listen to the reality of race and gender based discrimination in the work environment according to both Maria Malfoy and Katia Ramos. >> When I was at work, someone describing because my race, because I'm a woman and I'm a black woman. So it was something not good for me to understand someone, tell me about my my race, my color, what I am, it was that. I can't say my journey is all about perseverance and resilience, especially as a woman and has a black woman. You must face some difficulties, I can say that, obstacles, whatever experience we required to be able to always bumping into challenge. >> So what we hear is that Katia Ramos and Maria Malfoy, they feel singled out based on their race or gender within their organization, Anika, could you perhaps reflect a little bit more on that, given your expertise on this topic? >> Yeah, I feel on the reflections of Kathy and Maria is very interesting to hear their experience in the organizations. And I think to be honest, it's quite common for women from an ethnic minority to have some of the similar experiences and feelings that they did. The one that kind of I could identify with was around how rather than being explained as her name and her role. It was kind of that the black woman and her role and personally, it's not really, you know, it wouldn't happen for a white man or a white female to be kind of referred to in that way. And it's kind of that practice just didn't sit very nicely with myself to be honest. So as a woman from an ethnic minority background, it's not uncommon to be just and obviously we're looking at gender and race specifically here. But gaining a senior position within the football industry requires more than a qualification. It requires experience, it requires a large network of people who work in the industry, but also it requires grit and resilience. And I think anybody would need those final characteristics of grit and resilience to be able to to get a senior position, but for ethnic minority women, I think due to the color of their skin, they can be more barriers. So I think I've been personally provided with numerous opportunities within both academia and within the football industry, mainly based on the network of people that I know. So I'm based in Manchester in the UK, but I also have contacts globally when europe in America in India and I think that's really important to grow your network because often it's people that you know, who can, you mentioned different opportunities in senior positions within the game of football. First, we need to talk about the racism and to talk about gender to give the people skills and tools to to know how to do when someone say something about them, about a black person or mexican or something like that. We need tools for for that to be. How can I say prepared when that things happen to us? What we hear incautious remark is that she is also referring to tools and skills to navigate discriminatory spaces within football. Could you perhaps reflect on that a little bit more Annika from your expertise? Yeah, I think cattle explains that very well and in terms of the tools and skills that they are essential within within life, but particularly in discriminatory spaces, they are very important. So skills such as the qualifications that you have and the experience that you have, but also tours when faced with discrimination is the most important area. So, you know, I've personally been in a situation where I may have been spoken down to which I felt was, you know, due to my gender and the color of my skin and being able to manage some of those negative experiences in the working world is important. And it's been referred to that, you know, sometimes if we're referring to women, black women, sometimes they're referred to as being loud, aggressive, sometimes boisterous, we're kind of all put into one box and that's it's not appropriate and it's not relevant. But sometimes that can be the sense that is felt when in spaces where discrimination is given. So my personal way of ways to navigate discrimination when faced with it. For example, in a meeting where I put a recommendation forward around equality diversion inclusion and that's majority lee been disagreed with. I think, ensuring that you put your your matter and your point across explain that further is really important. But also to have the conversation with somebody whether it's the manager or the chair of the organization following the meeting explaining how you felt, and the effect that they make that may have on you in the future. There's been numerous papers, academic papers where people have spoken about when having discrimination towards them that they lose self esteem, they lose self confidence and sometimes they fall out of the they fall out of football, they fall out of love, sorry, With football as a whole for that reason and they're embark mint of gaining a senior position is no longer. So I think it's really important to first of all face and ensure that if you believe in what you said, you follow that through. But also secondly to discuss that with somebody following when you feel you've been discriminated against, we need to believe in ourselves if I believe in me and I know what I am and what I want, it's more easy to achieve my goals and to be in front of something about gender or race. Is these reflections by Maria and Katia showed the importance of self confidence in being able to climb the letter within the football industry, being a woman and of an ethnic minority backgrounds at the same time, research shows how we should be careful not to place all responsibility for structural change and more inclusion on the shoulders of those who are already find themselves in a marginalized position. Football organizations themselves are also responsible for change in a way that opens doors and opportunities for more diversity and inclusion in the work environments. Many of the current policy approaches and actions focused on stimulating and educating individuals from underrepresented groups, for instance, in leadership and training programs for women and people of a minority backgrounds. Although laudable in itself, such attempts to coach and train women and ethnic minorities often results in relatively slow and slight changes. Moreover, these programs seem to imply that women and people of a minority backgrounds are lacking in their skills for leadership positions and should be taught the necessary capabilities. While in reality it's primarily the task of organizations themselves to reflect critically on the difficulties they face in making the organization more inclusive. A growing body of research shows that the implementation of structural means from the part of organizations to create more diversity, like for example, target setting or quotas are more effective in achieving equality and inclusion over time creating diversity policies. Is that important? Just like the proper implementation of these plants, we will discuss the role and the responsibilities of football organizations in some more detail in the next module, we will then also present some good practices of football organizations that started working on inclusion within their own organization. This video will now close with the last reflection by Maria malfoy on the importance of football organizations and decision makers providing opportunities. But before going there, I will now move to Anika for a last time. So, Annika, do you want to reflect on this? Do you want to add something to this? What's just being said? Yeah, thank you, Jack O for this conversation to begin with. I think it's sometimes there's not the space or the environment to have these discussions. So, just to add, I think in the UK there is numerous organizations who are working towards reducing racism and I know across europe, there's organizations like the Fair network, who have funded this project, we're really working hard to ensure that even though racism historically dates back Within the game of football to the 18th century in general, in society further back Currently and within the 21st century is very prevalent. We've seen numerous issues around eastern european countries and I think the work of nationally kick it out in the UK and the Fair network to remove discrimination in the game is very important. Just thinking about my hope for the future. Ethnic minority men in football have a very wide visibility in terms of playing the game coaching and also more so now in senior governance positions. So I think they have a pivotal place to support ethnic minority women because they have access to the senior positions or they have access to gaining education within, you know, FIFA and Uefa due to playing football. So I think it's important for organizations to support more ethnic minority women so we can see more of those in senior positions, whether it's the boardroom, whether it's actually playing because we'll have more black ethnic minority women role models. But just moving on. Finally, it's something that I've learned just not around ethnic minority women, but ethnic minority men as well. Looking at the academic world is around the work of cultural influences. So even though we're looking at ethnic minority people, we have to understand that there's various cultural influences and aspects that we have to consider whether that's religion, whether that's culture socialization, whether it's tribal. So gaining an understanding of these various intersects and demographics is important. And I feel that will advance the work of ethnic minority women in football is not about your skills or your technologies. You know, it's more about the opportunities is I can say this more about the people we are already in the in charge or in the, in my case, in the club or federation, whatever it's about them, they must choose you. They must to know you have something to give to them, you know, So it's not because your skills or facilities you have, but it's also about the people we have a front. You can decide or can agree with you or with your commitment with your persistence. You know, it's, I think it's more about that. All the, let the door open and the one time inside we will decide or we will see what they can bring
