In research released today by the EY Women Athletes Business Network and espnW, the majority of women executives surveyed say that a sport background can help accelerate a woman's leadership and career potential, and has a positive influence on hiring decisions.

The research report, Making the connection: women, sport and leadership, based on a global online survey of 400 women executives, was conducted by Longitude Research across Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, with the top five responding countries being Brazil, Canada, China, the UK and the United States. Half (49%) of those surveyed were in the C-suite, meaning that they serve on the board of directors at a company or in another C-level position, such as CEO, CFO or COO. The remaining 51% surveyed were in other management positions.