Challenging the Old Boy’s Club: Diversification of Volunteers in the Dutch Golf Federation

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2023-07-11

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en

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The Dutch golf industry is looking to make its volunteer pool more inclusive towards younger volunteers to safeguard the sustainability of the game of golf and ensure future organizational success. This qualitative study explores how diversity practices can help the Dutch golf industry to strategically renew itself by improving inclusion among its volunteers of different generations. Framed by literature on the diversity practices of mentoring, diversity networks and training as well as volunteer management practices, I explore the experiences of current volunteers with inclusion. To do so, the study draws on interviews with volunteers, participant observations, and documentation. Using content and discourse analysis, this study finds that the inclusion of younger volunteers can be improved on three levels: interpersonal, group, and organizational. This study suggests that diversity networks and mentorship can be used to improve the inclusion of younger volunteers, as the Dutch golf industry already has compatibility with these practices. I also suggest that age impacts the availability of the volunteers and therefore complicates the selection and recruitment process. Overall, this study reveals how diversity practices are intertwined with volunteer management and can be meaningful to organizations for more than just selection and recruitment processes.

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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen