Dual Career environments in Switzerland, Denmark and Poland A cross-cultural comparison Andreas Küttel M. K. Christensen; J. Zysko; J. Hansen ENSE/EAS Sport Summit 2017 Aarhus, 13.9.2017 akuttel@sam.sdu.dk 1
2 Background
Survey with former elite athletes from Switzerland (N = 231), Denmark (N = 86), and Poland (N = 84) showed that: 39% of the Swiss athletes 62% of the Danish athletes 85% of the Polish athletes had completed a tertiary education when retiring from elite sport (χ 2 = 53.27, p >.001, effect size.36) 3
Athletes completed educational level when retiring from elite sport 70% 60% Switzerland Denmark Polen 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 9/10 years schooling vocational education gymnasium technical college bachelor master/phd 4
Aims To provide an overview of the dual career (DC) environments that exist in the three countries To deepen our understanding of the cultural influence on DC programs To highlight the most common DC pathways for elite athletes in Switzerland, Denmark, and Poland 5
Method Interviews with DC key stakeholders in each country National Sport Governing Body Higher Education Institution Athlete Career Program Sport Federation Based on the Holistic Athletic Career Model (Wylleman et al., 2011), benefits and obstacles of DC, and optimal ways to support DC athletes were discussed Additionally, documents about the elite sport and educational systems were collected and analyzed 6
Analyses Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim Interviews were analyzed in a deductive-inductive way using Schein s (2010) cultural framework Artifacts (DC programs that exist on lower/higher education) Espoused values Underlying basic assumptions A derived-etic approach was employed (Si & Lee, 2007) 7
Results Lower education Switzerland Denmark Poland Label and partner schools Sports classes (gymnasium) Master classes Typology of dual career Higher education State/NSA as facilitator Only individual solutions No institutionalized service State/NSA as facilitator Established service at 3 out of 4 universities State-centered Individual study programs at physical education study No financial support for athletes Financial support for students (SU) Financial support (stipend) Typology of dual career (Aquilina & Henry, 2010) Laissez-faire State/NSA as facilitator State-centered Espoused values Dual career is responsibility of each athlete Athletes need to find own solutions in the given system Develop athletes in a social responsible way It should be possible to study all kind of subjects Develop athletes to be successful in sport The choice of study is dictated by the system Basic assumptions Dual career can improve or decrease athletic performance Combining sport and education makes athletes more successful in both spheres Education should not distract athletes from the sporting performance Typology of dual career trajectory (Pallarés et al., 2011) Convergent Parallel Linear 8
Some quotes / espoused values If you really want to be successful, it is hardly possible to take an education. Swiss Olympic also supports such a decision. We would be the last ones forcing athletes into an education. Our attitude is: Try to take an education, but we are aware that in certain sports it is necessary to go all in. Athletes can catch up on education later on. - Swiss Olympic Career Advisor Our attitude is that education is a duty if one would express it a bit exaggerated. If a player does not want to take an education, he can actually not play in the national team. For us, it is really important to create the whole person. To create the whole person, one needs to be educated. - Career Advisor of Handball Federation This is how it goes through generations. It is the same path [ ] this is the pathway of an athlete. If you are an elite athlete, it is the easiest way to go to AWF (Physical Education Academy) and later become a coach or a physical education teacher, or someone still connected to the sport. - Career Advisor on Higher Education 9
10 Typical DC career pathways of elite athletes
Conclusions Depending on the national context, athletes profit from very different dual career opportunities DC stakeholders in the three countries expressed different attitudes and values towards dual career development of athletes: DC mindset is culturally infused The national context plays an important role how athletes are prepared for their life after elite sport 11
Thank you for your attention! Andreas Küttel akuttel@sam.sdu.dk PhD thesis download: http://bit.ly/andreas_kuettel_pure 12
Literature Aquilina, D., & Henry, I. (2010). Elite athletes and university education in Europe: A review of policy and practice in higher education in the European Union Member States. International Journal of Sport Policy, 2(1), 25 47. Kuettel, A., Boyle, E., & Schmid, J. (2017). Factors contributing to the quality of the transition out of elite sports in Swiss, Danish, and Polish athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 29, 27 39. Pallarés, S., Azócar, F., Torregrosa, M., Selva, C., & Ramis, Y. (2011). Modelos de trayectoria deportiva en waterpolo y su implicacion en la transicion hacia una carrera profesional alternativa [Athletic career models in water polo and their involvement in the transition to an alternative career]. Cultura, CienciaY Deporte, (6), 93 103. Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4 th ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons. Si, G., & Lee, H. (2007). Cross-cultural issues in sport psychology research. In S. Jowett & D. Lavallee (Eds.), Social psychology in sport (pp. 279 288). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Stambulova, N., & Ryba, T. V. (2013). Athletes careers across cultures. London: Routledge. Wylleman, P., De Knop, P., & Reints, A. (2011). Transitions in competitive sports. In N. L. Holt & M. Talbot (Eds.), Lifelong Engagement in Sport and Physical Activity: Participation and Performance across the Lifespan (pp. 63 76). New York, NY: Routledge. 13
14 Ecological framework for studying the transition out of elite sport (Kuettel, 2017)