2025 UEFA Women’s European Championship

Status-Cued Pride: Social Hierarchies and the Politics of National Success

_{Presented at SEPS Research Seminar, EPSA 2025, SVPW 2025, the HSG winter retreat 2025 and the Comparative Politics Jour Fixe.}

This study examines how status hierarchies shape the recognition of group success and the conditions under which role models inspire in-group pride. Using a survey experiment in England and Germany, I show that women report greater national pride only when a victorious team is explicitly identified as female, which suggest that recognition, and thus inspiration, depends on clear attribution. Moreover, sexist attitudes predict shifts in expressed pride, indicating that status-based biases and social desirability influence the celebration of lower-status group achievements.

Not Just a Game: Racism and the Politics of Perception in Women’s Football (with Tabea Ernst)

As women’s football gains visibility, it continues to face discriminatory backlash. This study investigates whether publicized racist abuse, specifically, the targeting of England’s Jess Carter during the 2025 UEFA Women’s Euros, shapes public beliefs about racism in women’s sport. Using a survey fielded immediately after the incident and three estimation strategies, we find that awareness of the abuse substantially reduces the belief that racism is less prevalent in women’s than in men’s football, underscoring the role of high-profile events in challenging denial and reshaping perceptions of systemic bias.

Scoring Change or Sparking Backlash? The Politics of Female Success in Men’s Spaces (with Tina Freyburg)

^{Presented at EPSA 2025, SVPW 2025, the HSG winter retreat 2025 and the Comparative Politics Jour Fixe.}

Using a four-wave panel survey fielded in Germany and England during the 2025 UEFA Women’s European Football Championship, we examine how women’s performance in male-dominated domains shapes gender stereotypes and self-efficacy. We thereby shed light on how female achievement can both challenge and reinforce gender hierarchies.