Gender Equality Launches SOA Community Conversation Series, Mon 15th Mar

With International Women’s Day on the 8th March embracing the theme of challenging gender equality and highlighting bias, we have chosen to kick off our new monthly series of ‘Community Conversations’ with the first topic of Gender Equality in orienteering.

What will the discussion be about?

As part of the SOA Equality Mark assessment we looked at gender within Scottish Orienteering under the measurements of % members across age groups by gender, % female coaches as part of the coaching workforce and also % women on our Board of Directors. Under each of these measurements, Scottish Orienteering faired well. However, on the back of the recent Run In podcast on gender equality we started discussions internally about whether gender inequalities still exist within the sport. To further explore this we are keen to hear perceptions and opinions from within the Scottish Orienteering community to understand the experiences of female orienteers, of considerations from experienced race organisers and in what areas further progress could be made.  Example areas include planned race winning times, developmental experiences from elite junior women, teams/squad selections and any factors which may influence ‘drop out’ of our sport. 

Who is involved?

We have put together a diverse, interesting and experienced panel with a mix of current and former elite athletes, youngsters, oldsters and representation from both genders.

While the panel will provide some context and bring their experience of gender equality to the discussion, this session is about engaging with the Scottish Orienteering community. There will be plenty of opportunity to raise a question or provide your viewpoint in what promises to be an interesting hour of discussion around this topical issue.

How to I register and participate?

We are keen to hear from a diverse range of our members and encourage anyone with an interest to register for the session on Mon 15th Mar at 7pm here

You are welcome to come along and listen to the discussion. However, this is a live discussion and we truly want to hear from you as valued members of the orienteering community.

Where can I listen to the podcast before the Community Conversation?

We found the Run In podcast on Gender Equality in Orienteering stimulated much discussion within the SOA staff team and we would recommend anyone with an interest to listen. You can find The Run In podcast on your usual podcast platform including Apple, Google podcasts or Spotify

What other topics will be covered in the Community Conversations?

We are putting together a series of discussion areas and hope to host this virtual discussion on a monthly basis, each time putting together a relevant panel and inviting member contributions. We welcome any suggestions of topics for discussion, here are what we have pencilled in so far:

• Where do our priorities lie for restarting our sport? (April)
• Do barriers exist for planners, controllers and event organisers? (May)
• How welcoming is our sport? Are we truly inclusive? (June)