Disputas: Egil Trasti Rogstad

Om kandidaten:

Egil Trasti Rogstad​ har en bachelorgrad i journalistikk ​fra 2015 ​og en mastergrad i samfunnsvitenskap med fordypning i journalistikk fra 2017, begge fra Nord universitet. ​I løpet av utdanning har han også jobbet flere år som frilans sportsjournalist.

I doktorgradsarbeidet ​fokuserer Rogstad på kvinnelige spillere, kjønnsperspektiver og ​​​likestilling i e-sport – konkuransebasert dataspilling.

Rogstad er opptatt av sosial ulikhet, mangfold og kjønnsprespektiver i idrett ​og mediepresentasjoner av idrett.

​Tittel på avhandlingen:

Virtual(ly) Women Athletes; A Study of Gendered Power Relations and Inequality in Sports-Themed Esports

​Tittel på prøveforelesningen:

Equitable esports in the professional organisation of sports-themed videogame competition

Tid for prøveforelesning: 10:15 – 11:15
Tid for disputas: 12:15 – 15:30
Språk: Prøveforelesning og disputas vil foregå på engelsk
Sted: Bodø, A2 Stein Rokkan

Disputasleder: Dekan Elisabet Ljunggren

Bedømmelseskomité: 

• Førsteamanuensis Emma Witkowski, RMIT University in Melbourne (førsteopponent) 
• Førsteamanuensis Jordan Matthews, University of Chichester (andreopponent)
• Førsteamanuensis Torill Mortensen, Nord universitet 

​Veiledere: 

• ​Hovedveileder: Professor Lisbeth Morlandstø, Nord universitet
• Medveileder: Førsteamanuensis Anne Tjønndal, Nord universitet

Sammendrag:

This thesis focuses on gendered power relations and inequality in sports-themed esports (esports based on sports simulation games). Due to the continuing merging of sports-themed esports and traditional sports, the esports industry’s deeply rooted issues concerning a significant underrepresentation of women, sexist stereotypes and harassment constitute a major challenge. The aim of the thesis is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex issues and challenges that women players face within sports-themed esports. The following main research question is posed: How do gendered power relations influence gender inequality in sports-themed esports?​

This research question is addressed by means of four separate studies, each with their own research questions and methodological approaches. Article I is based on a traditional narrative review that presents the current research on gender and esports. In Article II, a document analysis is used to examine the gendered challenges and opportunities relating to the IOC’s strategy to include esports in the Olympic Games. Article III is based on a Foucauldian discourse analysis and examines how the media constructed Chiquita Evans when she became the first woman player in the NBA 2K League. Article IV draws on an online survey of sports video game players to examine their perceptions of gendered character representations in these games.

Although esports is regarded as a non-physical form of sport in which men have no physical competitive advantage over women, the findings in the thesis further demonstrate how sports-themed esports participation involves additional challenges for women players. As a result, the traditional dynamics of male domination in sports seem inescapable, even in the virtual space of sports-themed esports.​