The 2026 ASPN Global Forum on gender equality and innovation in sports was held on March 26 at Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 2, organized by the Center of Industry Accelerator and Patent Strategy (IAPS), Ministry of Sports and ASPN Sports Tech Accelerator as a part of the TaiSPO 2026.

A highlight of the forum was a panel titled “Breaking Barriers: The Influence of Women in Athletics,” featuring five pioneering women in sports, politics and academia. The following panel was hosted by Yi-an Chen (陳怡安), Chair of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) Gender Equality Committee and international gold medalist in taekwondo.

Chen welcomed the four panelist who “demonstrate how women can exert influence through sports”: Legislator Jie Huang (黃捷), Chair of the Legislative Yuan’s Women’s Sports Diplomacy Promotion Association, Ambassador-at-Large Sophiyah Liu (劉柏君), Vice Chair of the CTOC Gender Equality Committee and Taiwan’s first woman baseball umpire, Hsiao-tzu Hsu (徐孝慈), CTOC Secretary General, and Ying Chiang (姜穎), professor at Chihlee University of Technology and CTOC Gender Equality Committee member.

Promoting gender equality in sports does not just mean supporting women athletes, but women in decision-making roles, Huang Jie said. Currently women account for less than one fourth of sports leadership roles in Taiwan and the goal is to increase this to at least one third, she said.

Hsu followed up saying that women account for over 40 percent of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and while the CTOC is working towards that goal, it is only 24 percent women. Last year the IOC elected its first woman chair, Kirsty Coventry, and the CTOC elected its first woman vice president, Mei-yen Chen (陳美燕), Hsu said. It is worth mentioning that, as the Principal Investigator of the “Expanding Sport Science Research Capabilities and Bridging Research (運科擴能計畫) “, Professor Mei-yen Chen of NTNU and her team showcased the stellar achievements of the sport-bilities research, a successful model of industry-government-academia collaboration at TaiSPO 2026.

The Paris Olympics moved the women’s marathon to the closing day and awarded the medals in front of a global audience, giving women athletes greater recognition, Yi-an Chen said in a follow-up interview with Eye on Taiwan Media. While the Olympics have made significant strides in fair broadcasting, professional sports still need to improve equal pay, resource allocation and the visibility of women athletes, she said.

Domestically, the gender imbalance in leadership contributes to an imbalance of resources, Jie Huang said during the panel, encouraging the sports ministry to look at gender and resource allocation to ensure equity. “We have proposed several amendments in the Legislative Yuan, including revisions to the National Sports Act, requiring the Ministry of Sports to use a gender perspective when planning programs and allocating resources,” the legislator said in a follow-up interview.

While many government policies involve gender impact assessments, “this is missing in the sports sector,” Liu said in a follow-up interview, “We haven’t investigated which resources are allocated to women versus men.” Liu experienced women’s comparative lack of resources as Taiwan’s first women baseball umpire but persevered to be a role model for young woman, she said. “If she can see it, she can be it. As long as you provide the right environment, more people will participate,” Liu told Eye on Taiwan Media, emphasizing that policy and grassroots efforts must move in the same direction.

There is also a lack of research about gender equality in sports, Chiang said during the panel. Last year about 43 percent of research projects approved by the National Science and Technology Council’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences last year were led by women, the professor said. However, of the 296 projects related to sports, only 90, or about 30 percent, were submitted by women, and only seven projects qualified as gender studies in sports, she said, encouraging more people to do gender research in sports.

Furthermore, the panel discussed how sports diplomacy can help Taiwan build stronger international partnerships and increase its global visibility. “Every time we compete on behalf of the country, it represents an exchange between nations,” Jie Huang said. “Taiwan is number one in Asia regarding equality and among the top in the world,” Liu said, emphasizing that Taiwan’s commitment to gender equality in sports can facilitate friendships with like-minded nations.

Jie Huang further emphasized “the right of diverse gender identities to participate in sports,” highlighting the Asia Pride Games that is being held in Kaohsiung from April 30 to May 4.