Women in Motorsport – how to achieve career progression around the following topics of debate? Equal opportunity vs financial constraint, diversity of thought vs status quo, inclusivity vs competition, and gender equality vs viewer engagement are all highly significant subjects which influence opportunities for women to race from one season to the next.
Analysis on the debatable topics requires understanding the factors which impact the decisions women make to race selected FIA/FIM World Championships. Starting with securing financial resources and Team/Brand support to race, with the main focus on producing best possible results to elevate a rider/driver’s career profile.
With the main objective in mind, women are faced with weighing up which races – Team and Brand – would provide the best possible support to achieve pointy end results. And, within the agreed partnerships – how much funding, mechanical, and logistical support would be included, and how much may the rider/driver have to put in, if there is a short-fall?
These main factors permeate discussions on equal opportunity to race in Motorsport which comes at a price, and who pays? For women who have endured the long up-hill battle to leverage fully funded race seasons, negotiations have been hard won on the back of financial sacrifices made by family, friends, and allies whose support granted the opportunity to race year-on-year. For women seeking greater financial support to race, negotiations would need to be based on securing win-win agreements – with rider/driver promoting Team/Brand support – thereby redefining the meaning of equal opportunity vs financial constraint.
Such strategies to forge racing career pathways includes discussions on diversity of thought vs status quo. As women have navigated the terrain of pairing race goals with Team/Brand partnerships, dialogues have opened up on diversification of rider/driver line-up within Team structures and also World Championship classifications. The shift in perspective has shunted traditional race formats to one side, with mixed racing in the all electric Extreme E and E Xplorer Series, while all female Championships have been included in the pinnacle of racing at Formula One, WSBK, MXGP, and The Dakar Rally.
Inclusivity of women within Team structures and World Championship categories has raised the level of competition on the track and track-side. The two elements are not mutually compatible meaning including women in race formats fosters competition for placement. Either, women who have proven record of results or financial reservoirs to race cancel out those ranked below, or the organization structure of racing places limits on how many times a high ranking female can enter season-on-season. Such has been the case with F1 Academy restricting women to race 2 seasons only, with the winner only racing one.
The complex topic of gender equality vs viewer engagement remains a double edged sword. From the stand-point of women, career progression means pursuing and securing opportunities to race based on skills, talent, mental capacity, and professional results. From the perspective of World Championship organizations, elevating the profile of racing means delivering content which attracts and engages viewers world – wide, thereby increasing following. Statistical data on viewer watch-time provides a benchmark on what races are viewed, how often, and for how long. From an equal opportunity point of view – if women are not given watch-time – pre-during-post racing including Live coverage – viewers stats will never increase at the same pace as their male counterparts.
For women executing plans to achieve racing career progression, specific aspects should be taken into consideration. 1: does the opportunity to race provide a mutually beneficial arrangement for rider/driver and Team to achieve results? 2: does the racing pathway dove-tail with a rider/driver’s short and long term goals including at what cost to either rider/driver and Team? And, 3: does the race strategy compliment self-belief and self-determination for women to achieve highest possible results within specific World Championships?
Header photo: MXLink. Words: Sharon Cox.
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