Ethnic Discrimination in Scandinavia: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Women's Amateur Soccer

The successful social integration of immigrants and minority groups is crucial for societal well-being. Exclusion can lead to various negative consequences for individuals, including a lack of belonging, family problems, depression, and even suicide attempts. This study focuses on ethnic discrimination within the context of women's amateur soccer in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. While research on minority women in sports has historically been limited, recent studies highlight the importance of examining their participation. Organized sports offer a potential arena for inter-ethnic socialization, identity formation, and community building. Leisure contact between immigrants and the local population is considered vital in reducing prejudice. A previous field experiment found evidence of ethnic discrimination in men's soccer across these Scandinavian countries. However, it remains unclear if similar patterns exist in women's soccer, necessitating the present investigation. Scandinavia, characterized by its historical uniformity and commitment to gender equality and human rights, might be expected to exhibit high levels of acceptance towards foreigners in sports. Yet, studies reveal persistent ethnic discrimination in these countries, particularly within the labor market, suggesting that discrimination could also manifest in sports settings. The study uses rejection or acceptance rates to requests for participation in amateur soccer club trial practices as a measure of potential discrimination. The experiment involved contacting clubs with emails from accounts using either native or foreign-sounding names to analyze response differences.

Existing discrimination research predominantly focuses on the labor market. However, the process of trying out for a soccer team shares similarities with the hiring process, but with potentially lower risks and economic implications for amateur clubs. The role of sports in social integration is increasingly recognized, with organized activities potentially transcending cultural barriers. However, some researchers express skepticism about the effectiveness of sport in achieving social integration. Research suggests that ethnicity can present significant societal boundaries resistant to easy overcoming. Previous studies have shown a preference for recruiting players from culturally proximate countries, highlighting existing barriers. Other research indicates that native residents may be less likely to join organizations with more minority members, while the reverse holds true for minority groups. A previous field experiment demonstrated clear evidence of ethnic discrimination against men in soccer across several European countries, including the three Scandinavian nations investigated in this study. This study also considered the intersection of gender and ethnicity, acknowledging that women from minority groups may face unique types of stereotypes and discriminatory behavior. Social dominance theory predicts men might experience more discrimination due to perceptions of threat, while social cognition theory suggests stereotyping is a cognitive shortcut that can lead to bias. The study also investigated whether the type of ethnic minority group influences the level of discrimination, considering the concept of ethnic hierarchies and related negative stereotypes.

The study identified 1141 amateur women's soccer clubs in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway and obtained the email addresses of their coaches. Researchers randomly selected one team from each club with more than one team to avoid suspicious activity. Following ethical guidelines, the researchers contacted each club using a standardized email requesting a trial practice session. Five foreign-sounding names were created for each country's three largest ethnic minority groups. The names were chosen based on frequency and represented the top three largest ethnic groups for each country due to population differences. A native-sounding name was also included as a control. One name was randomly assigned to each club, ensuring geographic distribution was considered. Emails were sent using separate Gmail accounts for each name. Responses were categorized as positive, positive with additional inquiries, or negative. Positive responses with inquiries were considered a positive first step towards inclusion, and this, and the negative or no response categories were combined to contrast against wholly positive replies. The researchers responded to positive responses within 48 hours, indicating the applicant was no longer interested, to maintain experimental integrity and comply with ethics approval requirements. A power calculation was performed, taking into account previous studies on discrimination in men's soccer, to ensure sufficient statistical power. The response distribution was analyzed by country, considering population size and the number of clubs, which varied across countries. The response rates were compared between native and foreign-sounding names and also across different ethnic groups. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the data, with a positive reply (0-1) as the dependent variable and controlling for the gender of the recipient coach and team division. The study used a maximum likelihood estimation approach on the whole population, interpreting the lack of statistical significance as an indication of the association not being more probable than chance.

The study found a statistically significant negative effect of foreign-sounding names on the likelihood of receiving a positive response only in Sweden. In Sweden, the probability of receiving a positive response decreased with increasing geographic and cultural distance from the majority Swedish population. The lowest positive response rate was to emails using Iraqi-sounding names. In Norway and Denmark, the effect of having a foreign-sounding name was not statistically significant. The differences are likely due to sample size differences between the countries, especially the considerably smaller samples in Norway and Denmark. In Sweden, Polish- and Iraqi-sounding names received significantly fewer positive responses than Swedish-sounding names. No significant gender differences were observed in discriminatory behavior between male and female coaches. The only statistically significant effect of the coach’s gender was seen in the Norwegian model, where female coaches were marginally more likely to show discrimination. Overall, the response rate was higher for women's teams compared to men's teams, and the gap between native-sounding and foreign-sounding names was smaller for women than for men.

The findings from the Swedish sample confirm that ethnic discrimination exists in women's amateur soccer, aligning with theories on ethnic hierarchies. The greater the cultural distance, the higher the likelihood of discriminatory responses. The lack of significant discrimination in Norway and Denmark could be due to smaller sample sizes, which reduces the power of statistical analysis. However, the observed pattern in Sweden is consistent with other research showing higher levels of discrimination in the labor market within that country, pointing to the possibility that self-perceived color-blindness might be masking discriminatory practices. In contrast to the observed gender-neutral pattern in most cases in this study, previous research indicated that discrimination was more prevalent in men's soccer. The difference in response rates between men's and women's soccer could be because women's soccer clubs often have more difficulty in recruiting players, leading to less discrimination. The lack of significant gender differences in discriminatory behavior among coaches suggests context-specific variations in discriminatory patterns.

This study provides evidence of ethnic discrimination in women's amateur soccer in Sweden, but not in Norway or Denmark. The results highlight the need for further research to understand the underlying reasons for the observed patterns, especially in Sweden, to promote social inclusion in sports. The potential of sports to foster social integration, particularly in Denmark and Norway, is evident. Future research should expand the geographic scope, increase sample sizes, and investigate a broader range of ethnic groups and sports to enhance generalizability.

The study's limitations include its geographic focus on three Scandinavian countries, the relatively small sample sizes in Norway and Denmark, and the focus on a limited number of ethnic groups. The exclusion of other potentially relevant minority groups limits the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the study focused solely on soccer, and findings might not generalize to other sports. Future research could investigate various sports to assess the generalizability of findings.