Our research

Women of Union has partnered with Leeds Beckett University (LBU) to commission a significant piece of research to understand the experiences and motivations of women working in rugby.

We are working directly with the Centre for Social Justice in Sport and Society (CSJ), in the Carnegie School of Sport at LBU, to produce research which is targeted to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences and motivation of women who work in and around the sport of rugby union and better understand the barriers they face, so that they can be supported more effectively.

The findings will have a direct impact on what we as an organisation offer our members and will be used to support existing initiatives and projects across the sport which work to support women. 

This insight and data will be shared with rugby stakeholders, to help them to better support women across the game.

The research involves multiple phases including a national survey which is open to any women who works in and around rugby union globally (men’s and women’s game), but with a particular focus on England, Scotland and Wales initially.  

Via one-to-one interviews and focus groups, there will then be more in-depth insight gained into the stories and perspectives as part of the wider research project, including personnel from areas like coaching, administration, medicine, sports science and leadership.

It will be led by Dr Anna Stodter, who has a strong background in rugby union as a former Scotland international and player at Saracens. She has significant experience in mixed-methods research with national governing bodies including UK Sport, UK Coaching, the RFU and the FA. 

She will be supported by Professor Leanne Norman, who is internationally recognised for her work in advancing gender equity in sports coaching, sports leadership, and organisations, and a wider team of experts. 

The research has been supported by England Rugby, Premiership Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union and Premiership Women’s Rugby. 

Insights from the research will be released early in 2025.