The world of sports has been gendered for a very long time, and women’s place in it is still being contested. This afternoon, a panel on the topic of “Women in Sports” took place at the USC Annenberg School. The panel was moderated by Farren Benjamin, and features the panellists Erin Bice, Olivia Cheng, Savannah Foster, Jennifer Prince, and Charlene Riofrio.
The panelists discuss their experiences, career journeys, and the lessons they learnt. Some of the top highlights include discussing pivotal career moments, advice about the sports industry, and, surprisingly enough, horror stories about student emails. But beyond the event, panelists reflected about how much progress women were making in the industry.
Olivia Cheng, who is the Senior Director of Marketing and Brand Engagement at LA28, said she sees some progress in gender equality.
Olivia Cheng: I think we’ve been on a very rapid pace and it’s been actually really intriguing to really see the fact that there’s a lot of women from a lot of different cultural backgrounds that are starting to actually celebrate the fact that there are women in sports. So I do think that there is a major push and we’ve done a fantastic job of, say, within the last decade to really push more women in sports.
Another panellist and the Senior Manager of Digital Strategy and Operations at FOX Deportes, Charlene Riofrio, also comments on what change she would like to see for women in the sports industry.
Charlene Riofrio: I would like to see more executives. I think, you know, there is still room for growth in that area. And I think what can help women become executives is, you know, continuing your academic journey, don’t limit yourself to an undergraduate degree. Strive for a graduate degree, but at the same time, always make sure in order to become an executive, you have to get that sort of hands on experience early when you are a student so that you can move up that corporate ladder quicker. If you wait too late to get that sort of experience, the competition is harder.
Events like this one are important for students, especially for women, in order to fully understand the types of jobs and the different paths available to them. In fact, this panel even attracted students from beyond USC. One of the attendees, a pre-Business Economics student at UCLA, Sienna Claiborne explains why she attended this panel.
Sienna Claiborne: I’m just compelled to come because I feel like not enough events are put on for women in sports that are very intimate and give you like clear direction and advice.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Clera Rodrigues.