Dawn Trussell, PhD

Professor, Sport Management

Dawn Trussell

905 688 5550
[email protected]

Web link

My research focuses on issues of equity and social justice as it relates to sport policy and governance using qualitative methodologies. Recent research projects have focused on community, regional, and provincial sport organizations. Understanding diverse identities (e.g., gender, disability, race, sexuality) and activism, allyship, and coalition-building is of particular interest. My work is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Sport Canada’s Research Initiative, and the Australian Research Council. I served on the Canadian Gender+ Equity in Sport Research Hub, Scientific Committee and was the President of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies. I was awarded the Chancellor’s Chair for Research Excellence (2021-2024) for my work on allyship and activism in sport. I work with an incredibly talented group of graduate students (MA and PhD) in the Sport, Allyship, and Inclusion Lab (SAIL).

Research Interests

  • Social justice issues in community, regional, and provincial sport systems
  • Sport policy, governance, and equity issues (e.g., gender, disability, race, sexuality etc.)
  • Activism, allyship, and coalition-building in sport organizations
  • Transition to motherhood and sport leadership
  • Methodological and ethical issues in research design

Publications

Books and Contributions to Edited Collections (last 5 years)

* Denotes student mentoring.

  1. Trussell, D. E., & Kerwin, S. (2024). Gender and voluntary work for diverse and traditionally marginalized identities in community sport organizations. In P. Markula & A. Knoppers (Eds.,) Handbook on gender and diversity in sport management (pp. 277-290). Edward Elgar Publishers.
  2. Jeanes, R., & Trussell, D. E. (2024). Families, advocacy and social justice in youth sport. In S. Lawrence, J. Hill, & R. Mowatt (Eds.,) Routledge Handbook of Sport, Leisure and Social Justice. Routledge.
  3. *Ritondo, T., Leberman, S., & Trussell, D. E. (2024). Re-imagining mothers exercising leadership in sport management. In P. Markula & A. Knoppers (Eds.,) Handbook on gender and diversity in sport management (pp. 291-303). Edward Elgar Publishers.
  4. Trussell, D. E., & Jeanes, R. (2024). Family leisure. In M. Stodolska, D. Scott, & T. Liechty (Eds.), Leisure matters: Exploring leisure in a changing world (4th Ed). Venture.
  5. Trussell, D. E., Rich, K., & *Quinton, J. (2023). Towards a critical inclusion of LGBTQ+ youth in coaching contexts. In M. Toms & R. Jeanes (Eds.,), Routledge handbook of coaching children in sport (pp. 365-373). Routledge.
  6. Trussell, D. E. & Jeanes, R. (Eds.) (2021). Families, sport, leisure and social justice: From protest to progress. Routledge.
  7. Trussell, D. E., & Shaw, S. M. (2021). Organized youth sport and parenting in public and private spaces. In J. A. Reich (Ed.), The state of families: Law, policy, and the meanings of relationships (pp. 325-333). Routledge.
  8. Misener, K., & Trussell, D. E. (2021). Community sport and engaged citizenship. In T. Glover & E. Sharpe (Eds.), Leisure and its communities: Rethinking mutuality and belonging in the new century (pp. 170-180). Routledge.
  9. Trussell, D. E. (2020). Lesbian-parented families: Negotiating the cultural narrative of heteronormativity through leisure and sport experiences. In K. Levasseur, S. Paterson, & L. Turnbull (Eds.), Thriving mothers/depriving mothers: Mothering and welfare (pp. 243-258). Demeter Press.

Papers in Peer-Refereed Journals (last 5 years)

* Denotes student mentoring.

  1. Trussell, D. E., *Mooradian, J., *Porter, J., & Clutterbuck, R. (2024). Motherhood and competitive coaching: Six stories of generational differences in persisting and resisting gender inequities in sport. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2024.2375617
  2. *Porter, J., Trussell, D. E., Clutterbuck, R., & *Mooradian, J. (2024). Mother-coaches’ experiences of policies and programs: “Whoever wrote this policy doesn’t understand what it means to be a mom”. Journal of Sport Management, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2023-0283
  3. *Harris, L., & Trussell, D. E. (2024). Studying professional women footballers: A reflexive commentary on being benched from recruitment. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 1-13. http://doi/10.1177/10126902241255148
  4. *Harris, L., & Trussell, D. E. (2024). Professional women footballers’ stories of marketing portrayals and sponsorship: “I just had to feel grateful for what I’ve been given”. Sport Management Review, 1-20. http://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2024.2335018
  5. *Murphy, S., Trussell, D. E., *Petrie, M., *Groves, B., & Kerwin, S. (2024). Women and members of socially diverse groups in a sport management program: Key lessons from creating and leading a student-led equity, diversity, and inclusion club. Sport Management Education Journal, 18(1), 13-23. https://doi.org/10.1123/smej.2022-0059
  6. Trussell, D. E., Hebblethwaite, S., *Xing, T., Paterson, S., & *Evans, M. (2024). Negotiating intensive mothering and the gendered politics of active leisure among first time mothers in Canada. Leisure/Loisir, 48(1), 77-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2023.2187867
  7. *Hill, T., Trussell, D. E., *Ritondo, T., & Kerwin, S. (2024). A study of critical whiteness in sport research and disrupting racism: Research with a Black Lives Matter task force. Leisure/Loisir, 48(2), 245-258.https://doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2023.2291021
  8. *Smikle, T., & Trussell, D. E. (2024). Racism and Black male student-athlete experiences in a Canadian university. Leisure/Loisir, 48(2), 191-210. https://doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2023.2295327
  9. Kerwin, S., Trussell, D. E., *Cheevers, R., *Ritondo, T., & *McClean, C. (2023). A critical examination of how experiences shape board governance at the community level of sport. Sport Management Review, 27(2), 197-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2023.2259148
  10. Trussell, D. E., Kerwin, S., *Lyn, A., & *Harris, L. (2023). An integrative review and critical analysis of the state of research on gender and women and girls’ sport participation (2000-2020). Quest, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2023.2206577
  11. *Ritondo, T., & Trussell, D. E. (2023). Resistance and mothers’ experiences in postnatal team sport: “Didn’t you just have a kid?” Leisure Sciences, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2023.2180118
  12. *Gatt, K., & Trussell, D. E. (2022). Women with acquired physical (dis)abilities: Reclaiming a sense of community belonging through physically active leisure. Leisure Sciences, 1-21. doi: 10.1080/01490400.2022.2092242
  13. *Petty, L., & Trussell, D. E. (2021). Leisure self-care, health and well-being in women’s lives. Annals of Leisure Research, 24(3), 328-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2019.1652661
  14. Trussell, D. E. (2020). Building inclusive communities in youth sport for lesbian-parented families. Journal of Sport Management, 34(4), 367-377. doi: 10.1123/jsm.2019-0395
  15. *Petty, L., Engel, J., Salfi, J., & Trussell, D. E. (2020). Food, body function and leisure for midlife women: “If I partake in that, I will suffer consequences.” Leisure Sciences, 42(5-6), 448-464. doi:10.1080/01490400.2018.1483849

Teaching

  • Diversity and Inclusion in Sport Management (Undergraduate)
  • Qualitative Analysis for Sport Management (Undergraduate)
  • Qualitative Approaches, Theories, and Methods (Masters)
  • Advanced Qualitative Analysis (PhD)

Research Grants

Current External Grants

Trussell, D. (PI), & Kerwin, S. (Co-Applicant). (2019-present). More than child’s play, it’s a family affair: Board member, parent, and family life identity in community youth sport. Sport Canada/SSHRC Joint Initiative.

Trussell, D. (PI), & Kerwin, S. (Co-Applicant). (2018-present). More than child’s play, it’s a family affair: Board member, parent, and family life identity in community youth sport. SSHRC Insight Grant.

Hebblethwaite, S. (PI), Trussell, D., & Paterson, S. (Co-Applicants). (2016-present). Playing with Motherhood: A Longitudinal Study. SSHRC Insight Grant.

Trussell, D. (PI), & Newmeyer, T. (2013-2017). ‘What team do you play for?’: Examining the intersection of gender and sexuality in organized youth sport for families of same-sex parents. SSHRC Insight Development Grant.

Paterson, S. (PI), Hebblethwaite, S., & Trussell, D. (Co-Applicants). (2013-2016). The “state” of motherhood in Canada: The politics of leisure in the transition to motherhood. SSHRC Insight Development Grant.