As an Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, Andrea's research spans the fields of sport sociology and critical disabilities studies. Working from a community-based, participatory research framework, Andrea uses innovative digital qualitative methods to explore the intersections of sport, physical activity, health, disability and social inclusion.

Recently, Andrea has been leading a project called 'Level the Field: Disability Inclusion in Sport' that explores the inclusion/exclusion of people with disabilities in the BC sport sector. The project consists of team members from the UBC School of Kinesiology, UBC Recreation BC, and viaSport BC. Together they are engaging with communities of people with disabilities to gain their insights into what is needed to make sport more inclusive. They have been working with sport organizations province-wide to understand how they currently engage people with disabilities in their organizations and programs and what they need to adopt more inclusive policies and practices.

Session: Diversity & Inclusion in Sport Organization
The influence of provincial governments in Canada on the development of disability sport: the case of British Columbia
Provincial governments play a pivotal role in setting the agenda for sport in Canada. This paper explores the role of the provincial government in creating the conditions of possibility for disability sport in the Canadian province of British Columbia. We used freedom of information requests to source government documents that offer new insight into the role and scope of government support for people with disabilities in sport that are not available in the public domain. Our analysis of peer-reviewed literature, grey literature and policy artefacts revealed why broader mandates at the federal level around disability integration has been translated and interpreted in multiple ways at the provincial level, this has led to the situation where vertical integration of disability sport by both DSOs and PSOs has not been possible in many sports at the provincial level. Our research not only challenges the federal focus of Canadian sport policy research but looks into further depth about the role of provinces influencing the translation and interpretation of inclusive disability policies at the regional and local level and therefore provides a novel understanding of why and how disability sport has been structured in the ways it has in the province of British Columbia.