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Explore British Racing’s Directory of Community and Education Activity…

The Directory maps nationwide activities from over 130 organisations that are harnessing racing’s assets to help people develop skills, increase physical activity and create a more diverse and inclusive sport.

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Research

Research

Diversity in Racing Research

It is important to acknowledge the research projects and resulting recommendations that have informed much of the Diversity in Racing work that has taken place in recent years. Find some of the key pieces below.

Female Representation

This study looking at female representation and broader diversity in the sport, commissioned by Women in Racing, led to the creation of the Diversity in Racing Steering Group.

  • Women’s representation and diversity in the horseracing industry by Oxford Brookes, 2017

Female Jockeys

Vanessa Cashmore’s studies below both looked into the performance of female jockeys versus their male counterparts and added statistical data to support or disprove theories around riding ability.

  • Female jockeys as good as males suggests research by Vanessa Cashmore, 2018. Read here.
  • Female jockey performance in jump racing is being underestimated suggests research by Vanessa Cashmore, 2019. Read here.

Sexuality in British Horseracing

David Letts explored attitudes across the industry related to sexuality during his Thoroughbred Industries MBA, which has led to creation of Racing With Pride, further PhD research and many more proactive initiatives already.

  • Sexuality in British Horseracing; an exploratory study into prevalence and attitudes by David Letts, 2019. Read the published article here, or a summary of the findings here.

Challenges faced by working parents

The ’Racing Home’ project began with a Women in Racing symposium in November 2019 and was followed up by a series of successful workshops and webinars leading to a research-based project led by Dr. Kate Clayton-Hathway of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice, Oxford Brookes University. The discussions with participants from all aspects of horseracing were used as a basis to collate data around the experiences of motherhood and parenting and expanded to include the views of a wide range of stakeholders. Participants were asked to suggest any solutions they felt would contribute to mitigating both practical barriers for working mothers as well as less tangible ones within our sport. These findings were collated and developed into a series of recommended ‘next steps’ for the industry in discussion with key stakeholders. The findings formed the report ‘Racing Home, Working Mothers in the Horseracing Industry’ which was published late last year.

  • ‘Racing Home’ – a report by Women in Racing highlighting the challenges faced by working mothers in the horseracing industry, 2020. Read here.
  • Visit the Racing Home hub website which has been developed from this work.

The Diversity in Racing Steering Group would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the Racing Foundation, whose funding has made so much of this research possible.