Fostering Inclusive Action Sport

Like other outdoor action sports, mountain biking has also traditionally been a male-dominated sport. Only 15-25% of participants are women. Women continue to face challenges in feeling part of mountain biking, and in feeling that their participation is equally valued on its own terms. There is a strong role for media and marketing in fostering the sport’s culture and its inclusivity.

Mountain biking is not unusual in that it is male-dominated and mediated through narrow representation in specialist marketing and media channels, plus user-generated social media. Mountain biking was established in the 1990s as an alternative to traditional, rule-bound competitive sports, and offers a means of self-expression and enjoyment with unique mental and physical wellbeing benefits. Despite a general increase in mountain biking popularity in recent decades, it is understood to have a ‘male’ culture, dominated by a focus on risk, strength, freedom and fratriarchal bonding.

There has been a strong focus by industry marketers and media to focus on overcoming gender and inequality and on fostering greater inclusivity in mountain biking. However, many women remain excluded and there is a need to better understand how women who do mountain bike form relationships with the sport.

This report makes the following recommendations for industry, public sector organisations and policy:

1. diversify representation of mountain bikers and mountain biking to foster inclusivity
2. connect women mountain bikers through on and offline programmes to create opportunity and raise the visibility of women in the sport;
3. support women to engage with the mountain biking marketplace.

The report is based on a qualitative research project funded by BA/Leverhulme small grants , exploring how women engage with mountain biking, and how marketing and media shape the culture of mountain biking. The findings will help policymakers, industry and public sector stakeholders understand the role of marketing and media in fostering greater inclusivity in mountain biking and other action sport.