Cover not available

Article published In: Journal of Argumentation in Context: Online-First Articles

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Uneven retention

Examining gender inequality in Spanish-speaking debate circuits

ORCiD logo with link | University of Granada, Spain | University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Published online: 13 March 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jaic.25027.mam
Abstract
This study investigates gender inequalities in continued participation in competitive debate within Spanish-speaking university contexts. Quantitative data from major international Spanish-language debate tournaments held between 2020 and 2024 were analyzed. The findings indicate that men tend to remain involved in competitive debate for longer periods than women. This pattern is consistent with the perceptions reported by members of equity committees from different tournaments between 2020 and 2025, who were interviewed to provide complementary qualitative perspectives. In addition, greater experience is associated with higher competitive performance for both women and men. However, when debaters are grouped into novice and more experienced categories, the analyses do not reveal systematic or persistent gender-based differences in competitive performance.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1British Parliamentary debate in the Spanish-speaking context
    • 1.2Gender inequality in competitive debate
    • 1.3Research aim
  • 2.Methodology
  • 3.Results
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Disclosure statement
  • Note
  • References
References (46)
References
Asociación Mexicana de Debate. 2018. “Estudio Violencia de Género en el Circuito Mexicano de Debate.”Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aveleyra, Rocío. 2023. Informe regional: educación superior en América Latina, 1a ed. Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO). [URL]
Bartanen, Michael D. and Robert S. Littlefield. 2014. Forensics in America: A History. Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bermejo-Luque, Lilian. 2014. Falacias y argumentación. Plaza y Valdés.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bermúdez Vázquez, Manuel and Jorge Lucena. 2019. Manual de debate: guía práctica para desarrollar tus habilidades en el debate académico y la oratoria. Córdoba: Berenice.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bonomo, Hernán, Juan Mamberti and Jackson B. Miller. 2010. Tolerancia crítica y ciudadanía activa: una introducción práctica al debate educativo. New York: International Debate Education Association.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español. 2018. “Tabulación del Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español 2018.” Data set. [URL]
. 2019. “Tabulación del Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español 2019.” Data set. [URL]
. 2020. “Tabulación del Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español 2020.” Data set. [URL]
. 2021. “Tabulación del Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español 2021.” Data set. [URL]
. 2022. “Tabulación del Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español 2022.” Data set. [URL]
. 2023. “Tabulación del Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español 2023.” Data set. [URL]
. 2024. “Tabulación del Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español 2024.” Data set. [URL]
Consejo Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español. 2024. “Constitución del Consejo Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español: January 2024.” [URL]
Crocco-Valdivia, Alejandra Andrea and Caterine Galaz-Valderrama. 2023. “Mujeres en la academia: Exploración de una organización generizada a partir de una revisión sistemática.” Estudios pedagógicos (Valdivia) 49 (2):439–454. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
D’Antoni Fattori, Maurizia. 2022. “Desigualdad por motivo de género en la academia latinoamericana: vías para su investigación en la postpandemia.” Revista Estudios 451. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Díez De Fex, Ana María. 2017. Process Tracing of the Latin American Debate Movement [Master’s thesis, Central European University]. Central European University Library, [URL]
Eckstein, Justin and Michael Bartanen. 2015. “British Parliamentary Debate and the twenty-first-century student.” Communication Studies 66 (4):458–473. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eemeren, Frans H. van, Bart Garssen, Erik C. W. Krabbe, Francisca Snoeck Henkemans, Bart Verheij and Jean H. M. Wagemans. 2014. Handbook of Argumentation Theory. Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fabregat, Antonio, Javier de la Puerta and Yolanda González. 2020. Debatir bien: una asignatura pendiente. Barcelona: Planeta.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Greenstreet, Robert W. 1996. The gender-based experiences of women in intercollegiate forensics. Ph.D. dissertation, Oklahoma State University.
Grupo Gorgias. 2013. Enseñar a debatir: guía para el profesorado. Universidad de Murcia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, Steven L. 2013. Ganar debates: una guía para debatir con el estilo del Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate (J. Mamberti, Trans.). New York: International Debate Education Association.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liga Peruana de Debate Universitario. 2023. “Guía para la categoría Novata: primera edición.” [URL]
Llorens, Anaïs, Athina Tzovara, Ludovic Bellier, Ilina Bhaya-Grossman, Aurélie Bidet-Caulet, William K. Chang, Zachariah R. Cross, Rosa Dominguez-Faus, Adeen Flinker, Yvonne Fonken, Mark A. Gorenstein, Chris Holdgraf, Colin W. Hoy, Maria V. Ivanova, Richard T. Jimenez, Soyeon Jun, Julia W. Y. Kam, Celeste Kidd, Enitan Marcelle, Deborah Marciano, Stephanie Martin, Nicholas E. Myers, Karita Ojala, Anat Perry, Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas, Stephanie K. Riès, Ignacio Saez, Ivan Skelin, Katarina Slama, Brooke Staveland, Danielle S. Bassett, Elizabeth A. Buffalo, Adrienne L. Fairhall, Nancy J. Kopell, Laura J. Kray, Jack J. Lin, Anna C. Nobre, Dylan Riley, Anne-Kristin Solbakk, Joni D. Wallis, Xiao-Jing Wang, Shlomit Yuval-Greenberg, Sabine Kastner, Robert T. Knight and Nina F. Dronkers. 2021. “Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions.” Neuron 109 (13):2047–2074. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mamberti, Juan. 2023. “Competitive debate formats analysed in light of the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation’s rules.” RicercAzione 15 (2 bis):237–254. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2024. “Desigualdad de género en el Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español en 2023.” Revista Iberoamericana de Argumentación Monográfico 21: 75–88. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2025. “Inequality and discrimination based on gender at the World Universities Debating Championships in Spanish.” Argumentation and Advocacy 61 (2):178–199. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matthews, Nicholas C. 2016. “The influence of biological sex on perceived aggressive communication in debater-judge conflicts in Parliamentary Debate.” Western Journal of Communication 80 (1):38–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pierson, Emma. 2013. “Men outspeak women: Analysing the gender gap in competitive debate.” Monash Debating Review 111. [URL]
Poapst, Jackie and Allison Harper. 2017. “Reflections on the 2014 celebration of women in debate tournament at George Mason University.” Argumentation and Advocacy 53 (2):127–137. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Price, Ron. 2019. “Sexual Harassment Experiences of LGBT+ Students in Intercollegiate Speech and Debate Activities.” McNair Scholars Research Journal 14 (1):33–46. [URL]
Robertson, Stella, Petra Zuniga, Hannah Christenson and Jason Young. 2022. “Gender dynamics in high school policy debate: propagating gender hierarchies in advocating ‘better’ futures.” Gender and Education 34 (8):1025–1040. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Samaniego Asenjo, Gorka. 2023. Técnicas de argumentación y debate en el modelo Parlamentario Británico. Bergisch Gladbach: BoD — Books on Demand.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sociedad Iberoamericana de Argumentación. 2018. “Mapa teoría Argumentación”. [URL]
Szwapa, Cynthia A. 1994. “Sexual harassment and gender discrimination in NDT debate.” Argumentation and Advocacy 31 (1):41–44.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stepp, Pamela. 1997. “Can we make intercollegiate debate more diverse?” Argumentation and Advocacy 33 (4):176–191. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001. “Sexual harassment in communication extra-curricular activities: Intercollegiate debate and individual events.” Communication Education 50 (1):34–50. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stepp, Pamela L. and Beth Gardner. 2001. “Ten years of demographics: Who debates in America.” Argumentation and Advocacy 38 (2):69–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torneo Virtual Rosario Open. 2023. “Tabulación del Torneo Virtual Rosario Open de 2023.” Data set. [URL]
. 2024. “Tabulación del Torneo Virtual Rosario Open de 2024.” Data set. [URL]
Universidad Central de Venezuela. 2011. “Exitoso final del Campeonato Mundial de Debate.” [URL]
Universidad del Rosario. n.d. “Palmarés.” [URL]
Woods, Carly S. 2018. Debating Women. Michigan State University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
World Bank. 2024. “Gross graduation ratio, tertiary, total (%). Gender: gender gap.” Data set. [URL]
Yi, Aj and Alyssa Nie. 2020. “An Empirical Study of Gender Differences in Competitive High School Debate.” SSRN Electronic Journal. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue