UMass Amherst Opens New Lab in Partnership With Wasserman

Pictured above: UMass Amherst Skyline. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

By Gigi Picard ’22

Sports Editors

Wasserman, a sports marketing and management company, has entered a partnership with the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The company’s think tank, The Collective, aims to bring visibility to women in sports through various nonprofit partnerships and programs. 

Mount Holyoke News was able to learn more about UMass Amherst’s partnership from Nefertiti A. Walker, the chief diversity officer and interim vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion who also serves as an associate professor of sport management at UMass Amherst. Wasserman chose to partner with UMass Amherst because of Walker’s research on women in sports, and because the university’s sport management program is considered one of the best in the United States. In 2019, the university was ranked first by SportBusiness. 

Through research projects, Walker said, “We are trying to understand consumer needs, consumer interests, research projects; we’re trying to better understand sexism and how it manifests itself and how we can create organizations that are more inclusive, how we can undo sexism.” So far, research projects are being conducted on social justice and the WNBA. The team is examining sexism and how women’s actions on social media are impacted by their involvement in social justice. 

Students at UMass Amherst can get involved with the research projects in two ways. The first is through assignments and projects constructed by UMass Amherst professors within the sport management program. 

Associate Department Chair and Associate Professor of Sport Management Nicole Melton is currently examining Angel City, the National Women’s Soccer League’s new Los Angeles expansion team, and the underrepresentation of certain student groups in sport management in one of her classes. 

Another way for students to get involved is through UMass Amherst’s newly created Laboratory for Inclusion and Diversity in Sport. According to Walker, since the laboratory opened this fall, application protocols for students are still in the works. Walker said that there would be an application and review process, “and once you’re a part of our lab, you begin to work with Wasserman immediately because most of our projects will be funneled through that lab.”

As of now, undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. students are all a part of the laboratory. Melton and Walker meet with the laboratory students every Monday to first discuss sports, such as what sports-related events occurred over the weekend. Then, they all go over their projects and talk about what data is needed and who has already analyzed certain data. 

“It’s a lot of fun, and the students are so into it because we’re answering real-world questions,” Walker explained.

The outcome Walker expects from the laboratory research is “to impact change for women in sport,” she said. “The research that we do will highlight the inequities in a way that will answer a lot of questions. For instance, we know that there aren’t a lot of women coaching in the NBA. Why? We have assumptions as to why, but we don’t have a lot of empirical data that serves as evidence as to why.” 

An added benefit to working with Wasserman is its partnerships with international universities. Since partnering with the company, UMass Amherst has formed relationships with universities in Europe and Canada which they can now use to obtain data for the research projects.

Walker said that those interested in learning more can look for a coming website published by UMass Amherst for the laboratory featuring the work the university is doing with Wasserman.