Anna Posbergh, PhD

I am a sport sociologist and sport management professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport, & Tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I am a critical sports and feminist researcher, and my research broadly examines the governance and representation of women athletes, particularly through media and policies. I am particularly interested in the politics of policymaking processes, such as which types of evidence are selected and how they are interpreted into policy.​ I especially focus on the development and implementation of policies for women athletes and for the women's category, such those relating to transgender eligibility, female eligibility, and female athlete health.

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My work has been funded by organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Olympic Studies Centre, the Spencer Foundation, and the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

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 Prior to my current position at Illinois, I was an assistant professor in the Department of Sport Management at Florida State University from 2023-26 and a President's Postdoctoral Fellow in the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport (School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota) from 2022-23. I received my PhD in Kinesiology (specializing in Physical Cultural Studies) from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2022.