With a research background in gender equity and women's sport and her diligence in reforming the sports space, Dr Nana Adom-Aboagye from Stellenbosch University's Centre for Sport Leadership at Maties Sport has made ground-breaking contributions to address the injustices against women in sport.

As part of commemorating South Africa's Women's Month, she tells us more about her research.

Tell us more about your research.

My area of research looks at gender equity (not equality), women's sport and gendered (sport) policies. I like to explore the intersections of policy to practice for South African and African women, specifically in sport. This is to assess and understand their experiences about what we are informed by, through policy and what they need, as women in sport, at recreational or elite levels. My approach is to be as inclusive as possible of all women involved in sport.

Many believe that women have come a long way in sport in South Africa. Yet, if one speaks to women and girls regarding their sports experiences and challenges, very little has changed since 1994, beyond a numbers game. I strive to help give a voice to women's issues in sport at a national and regional level. Issues that are often not considered or overlooked. I believe in research for impact, and not research for research' sake, within the sports space. By this, I want my work to spark conversations and contribute towards actionable reform, no matter how minor the reform.

Why or how did you become interested in this specific area of research?

While completing my Master's degree at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), I explored funding support for elite athletes. I realised how few women were available or even interested in taking part in my study. I started reading up about women in sport, and I realised a gap in the literature regarding African voices, concerns for and issues about African women in sport. As a black African woman and a former sportsperson, I also could not relate to some of the literature published in terms of perception and/or experiences, for example. I thus decided to find a way to contribute to the conversation, which led me to pursue a PhD.

​Why do you think this is such an important area of research for women/young girls in South Africa (or globally)?

I believe it is an important area of research because many issues still affecting women in the sport globally are being challenged, advocated for, etc. Yet, in Africa, we find ourselves lagging behind specific topics and not contributing towards them as Africans, especially when it concerns us. I will provide two examples. Firstly, in developed countries, women are fighting for (near) equal pay to men within the same sports. Yet, for African women in sport, earning a living as a full-time sportsperson is still considered a dream for many. Secondly, the issue of testosterone testing in athletics, which made headlines before the Tokyo Olympics, appears to proportionately affect African women the most. This has been an ongoing issue for over a decade. However, we have not come together as an African scientific community of intersecting disciplines to explore and perhaps even challenge such a ruling. We are letting women fight the cases alone to the best of their ability with the support they can garner from varying sectors and/or individuals.

The pandemic has changed the way we work and live. What keeps you motivated during these times?

The support of my family (parents and brother). I am privileged to come from a sporting family, meaning they understand the field I have chosen to pursue. They also believe in me, even when I, at times, may not believe in myself (it can happen, researchers are human too). A sound support system is vital for any researcher, and it does not have to be your family.

Tell us something about yourself that few people would expect.

I was part of a provincial hockey team (KwaZulu-Natal Midlands A) that won the national interprovincial title here in the Western Cape in 2000. I was a bronze medal winner in the long jump at the South African junior championships in 2003. 

What would your message be for the next generation of women researchers?

If it is your passion and you want to pursue it, it does not matter if there is no one or very few people in that research field that look like you. Be that inclusive voice that brings in a new and unexplored perspective. There will definitely be challenges; you might not achieve certain milestones as you have personally projected, but do not give up! Everything happens for a reason, as I have learnt after disappointments. Also, if you give up, who will those behind you look towards for inspiration? As my friend, Dr Lombe Mwamba from the National Organisation for Women in Sport Physical Activity and Recreation (NOWSPAR) in Zambia likes to remind me: “We are the ones we have been waiting for (June Jordan)."