Research publication: Meeting career development needs of female athletes
While we know that female athletes navigate distinct career hurdles, most existing support structures are still rooted in evidence from male athletic pathways. To address this imbalance, the EU-funded HerForm project—including ENOSS associate experts—has conducted international research. Their study marks a turning point, offering a first-of-its-kind look at the specific development needs of women in sport.
ABSTRACT
Across their careers, female athletes face specific challenges, such as adjusting their training to their menstrual cycle or balancing their private and athletic life. Compared with their male counterparts, there is limited knowledge on how to best support the career development of female athletes.
In adopting an integrated knowledge translation approach, this study aimed to assess female athletes’ perceptions of career development needs and knowledge gaps relevant to navigating elite sports. Within the Erasmus+ project HerForm, a total of 132 elite female athletes ( M age = 25.9 ± 6.0 years) in their early- ( n = 47), mid- ( n = 30), and late-career stages ( n = 55) across Europe and South Africa were included.
Athletes were asked to indicate their perceived preparedness in managing 18 development areas relevant to their career (e.g., managing travel) and their respective need for information in these within an online survey. Overall, athletes indicated they were most prepared to develop and maintain social relationships. Areas in which athletes expressed they were least prepared for and wanted to be more informed about included returning to sport after child birth, negotiating contracts, obtaining sponsorships, mental health, and developing a personal brand. Athletes in their early- and midcareer stages appeared to have similar and highest information needs.
Findings are discussed based on areas most salient to advance female careers in sports, drawing from psychological, sociological, and economic evidence.
Key points
- A multinational coproductive approach was utilized to identify career development and information needs of elite female athletes (N=132).
- Athletes appeared most prepared to develop social relationships and least prepared to manage postpartum return to sport, contract negotiations, and mental health.
- Findings highlight the need to implement individually tailored support programmes specifically for early- and mid career stage females.
The full open-access article, “Meeting Career Development Needs of Female Elite Athletes—A Coproductive Approach to Career Support,” co-authored by the ENOSS associate experts Ruan Schlebusch and Wolfgang Stockinger, is now available on ResearchGate.
Back on Track : New Ways - Review of the European Network of Sport Schools Conference 2021
Presenters from 3 continents, participants from 30 different countries: The virtual ENOSS Conference 2021 “Back on Track : New Ways” united the world of secondary athlete education and talent development models.
In the COVID-19 crisis, institutions across Europe were asked to come up with new strategies to navigate their systems through wild waters. The ENOSS Conference on 1-2 December 2021 aimed to help sport and education institutions share, discuss and exploit the manifold innovation that has been created across the globe during this difficult period.
Making it possible for a maximum amount of European practitioners to join, #enoss2021 took place online. Simultaneously, the conference managed to create a most interactive virtual event to enable practitioners to exchange expertise and experience – even in digital form.
LIVE FROM LUXEMBOURG
Two rich days of keynotes, workshops and a round table marked the cornerstones of the second ENOSS Conference. Co-hosted by Sportlycée Luxembourg and TWIN, the event gave stage to innovative international approaches in the core areas of system development, psychology, student athlete counselling, and talent development.
“As this year’s host, we wanted different professional backgrounds to come together in this conference. Looking at our programme, we were proud to present such a variety of topics and experts. Bringing in sport school perspectives from other continents was the icing on the cake of this event.”
“As this year’s host, we wanted different professional backgrounds to come together in this conference. Looking at our programme, we were proud to present such a variety of topics and experts. Bringing in sport school perspectives from other continents was the icing on the cake of this event.”
Pascal Schaul, #enoss2021 host
ENVISAGING THE SPORT SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE
In the conference keynote, South African expert Ruan Schlebusch took a close look at modern fundamentals of student athlete support. Do these look different in a post-Covid world to what they did in 2020? He proclaimed that the time we were in was a golden opportunity for institutions to reflect, reset and move forward to make a positive impact in their unique setting.
“In this time of rapid change, there must be inevitable rapid change in the student-athlete support landscape too.”
“In this time of rapid change, there must be inevitable rapid change in the student-athlete support landscape too.”
Ruan Schlebusch, #enoss2021 keynote speaker
Bringing together a consortium of experts representing versatile professional backgrounds, the Round Table “Envisaging the 2030 sport school” (watch the recording here) lid up spaces of dual career support with particular potential for optimisation, leering at an ideal institutional picture of the future.
“Sharing an ethics of support across the different stakeholders within their system, building an overall concept and then living this concept is key for sport schools and talent development models.”
“Sharing an ethics of support across the different stakeholders within their system, building an overall concept and then living this concept is key for sport schools and talent development models.”
Raymond Conzemius, #enoss2021 panelist
Thank you to all international participants for making the ENOSS Conference 2021 a remarkable get together in difficult times!
Making the next step - An insight into the European Network of Sport Schools Conference 2019
From 7-8 November 2019, the first ever ENOSS Conference entitled “The Next Step” was held in Berlin, Germany. Like-minded professionals in education and sport from 16 European countries followed the invitation of the ENOSS consortium to network and exchange best practice.
Day 1 of #enoss2019 was dedicated to the topic of health. International experts, namely Markus Flemming (SLZB, Germany), Andreas Hülsen (Olympiastützpunkt Berlin, Germany), Laurent Carnol (LIHPS, Luxembourg) or Jürgen Dietrich/Andrea Stegmann/Claudius Schäfer (Brillat-Savarin Schule, Germany) shared multi-sided insights into their routine with talented athletes, spanning health-related dimensions such as sport psychology, dual career or nutrition.
Day 2, conducted in the spectacular location of the Olympic Stadium of Berlin, pursued the mission to initiate a European Network of Sport Schools. In his opening keynote, ENOSS co-initiator Wolfgang Stockinger (TWIN, Austria) emphasized the necessity of strategic European cooperation. Following, the international delegates concretized the requirements for the further development of a European network in the form of expert work groups.
“The quality of services provided by sport schools in cooperation with policy makers and sport bodies is of vital importance for sustainable pathways of aspiring athletes, in amateur as well as in professional sports. A network like ENOSS can be an important catalyst for innovative dual career practice across borders.”
“The quality of services provided by sport schools in cooperation with policy makers and sport bodies is of vital importance for sustainable pathways of aspiring athletes, in amateur as well as in professional sports. A network like ENOSS can be an important catalyst for innovative dual career practice across borders.”
Wolfgang Stockinger, ENOSS initiator
Thank you to all international delegates who made the 1st ENOSS Conference a big success!
Photo © Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license – Martijn Mureau
Introducing the European Network of Sport Schools
In the EU, the number of athletes in need of dual career support services adds up to more than 120.000 in every Olympic cycle. Within competitive systems, secondary athlete education models play a crucial role in the development of athletic talent. For this reason, an Austrian-German consortium aims to foster the establishment of a new European exchange possibility for such models called the European Network of Sport Schools.
The quality of young athlete education in cooperation with policy makers and sport bodies is of vital importance for the sustainable pathways of aspiring athletes, in amateur as well as in professional sports. In 25 out of the 28 EU member states, athlete education models at secondary level offering specific dual career support to talented athletes can be found.
This means that this type of education institutes represent one main common ground of dual career delivery in the European Union. However, despite their history in the EU, a specific communication platform for these schools on European level does still not exist. Time for change, time for making the next step.
KICK OFF CONFERENCE IN THE OLYMPIC STADIUM OF BERLIN
Initiated by the ENOSS co-creators Wolfgang Stockinger (TWIN, Austria) and Philipp Struwe (SLZB, Germany), and jointly organized by the SLZB, the Berlin Senate Department for Education, Youth and Families, and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community, the first ever ENOSS Conference will take place in the Olympic Stadium of Berlin, Germany. In the belief of the ENOSS consortium, systematizing the connections and learning arenas between secondary athlete education models will substantially contribute to improve service quality within these specific institutions, facilitate the mobility of both talented athletes and practitioners, and inspire the development of trans-national projects.
Registration for the ENOSS Conference 2019 is now open.