Public defence: Kyra M. Angerer

Kyra Angerer is defending her dissertation for the degree philosophiae doctor (PhD) at the University of South-Eastern Norway.

She has completed the doctoral programme in humanities, culture and educational science at the Faculty of Humanities, Sports, and Educational Science.

All interested are welcome to the trial lecture and public defence.

• Read the entire dissertation here 

Summary

This study reveals the multifaceted and complex experiences of Saudi women involved in football, contextualized within the broader framework of Vision 2030 reforms and ongoing social change in Saudi Arabia. The findings are presented across three articles, each offering unique insights from diverse stakeholder perspectives, including officials, coaches, fans, players, and digital communities.

Article 1 examines the socio-cultural factors shaping women's participation in sports, drawing on the perspectives of officials, managers, coaches, and historians. Three key themes emerge: 1) Sense of ownership and organic growth - This theme highlights the importance of pioneer women and the significance of continuity and belonging in the development of women's sport in Saudi Arabia. 2) Fostering national socialisation, heritage, and nationalism - The study illustrates how sports serve as a medium for promoting Saudization, traditional sports practices, and national pride. 3) (Re)comprehension of sport's societal role - The findings explore how the introduction of sport across multiple sectors (e.g., health, education, tourism) demands new, often divergent, behavioural expectations from different target groups. This article contributes to social inclusion theory by showcasing how these dynamics foster or hinder broader social integration through sports.

Article 2 investigates the role(s) of social media for female football stakeholders through a mixed-methods approach, integrating both online and offline narratives. This study aims to explore how stakeholders in women’s football in Saudi Arabia have experienced social media usage in relation to women’s football content. Using a mixed-methods approach that includes interviews and focus group discussions, as well as quantitative and qualitative analyses of comments on TikTok, we combine different data sets, incorporating the perspectives of user experience and public opinion. Our findings suggest a dual role for social media as an awareness-raising and recruitment tool, and as a means of shifting perceptions from backlash to support. A connecting element between these two roles is storytelling. When personal narratives are shared, these women are seen as role models which might shift perceptions on women's football and increase the instrumental feature of social media in Muslim societies.

Article 3 focuses on Saudi female football fandom, analysing both historical records and contemporary experiences. The authors review archival evidence of female fandom before 2017 and conducted interviews with eight women who attended Saudi Pro League men’s matches in 2024. The findings reveal that female fans navigate and often transcend conventional gender norms, developing a collective identity rather than engaging with football solely as individuals. There is a notable shift from globalized and private fandom to a more locally grounded and public form of support, signifying changing social dynamics and increased visibility of women in traditionally male-dominated spaces. The study contributes to understanding female agency, identity formation, and gender role negotiation through the lens of sports fandom and recommends further research into the role of female fans in broader processes of societal change.