RESEARCH PUBLICATION: MEETING CAREER DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF FEMALE ELITE 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.
ENOSS AS YOUR ERASMUS+ PARTNER
As the Erasmus+ Sport Info Day 2026 approaches, now is the perfect time to explore impactful collaborations: Enhance your Erasmus+ Sport project with ENOSS.
The upcoming call for proposals offers a remarkable opportunity to advance education, training, youth, and sport in Europe. ENOSS is ready to explore collaboration possibilities with your organisation.
A foundation of experience
ENOSS activates a legacy of distinguished achievement through our associate experts, who hold a prominent track record in high-level international projects. Here are some recent EU-funded projects that highlight the individual expertise that powers our institutional mission:
- HerForm: A gender-specific training course to support the female athlete’s pathway to high-level sport.
- AtLAS – Athletes as Entrepreneurs: A pioneering European entrepreneurship training on EQF 5 level tailored to the specific needs of high-level athletes.
- STARTING 11- The European Dual Career Toolkit: A digital ecosystem of international dual career practice to help practitioners in sport, education and the labour market implement athlete support services.
Partner with us!
Only good consortia make good projects. If you are seeking a reliable partner for your Erasmus+ Sport application, let’s connect to discuss how ENOSS can contribute to your undertaking.
ENOSS EMPOWERS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL EXCHANGE
ENOSS is dedicated to bridging the gap between elite sports and education through cross-border cooperation. In a standout example of this mission, the network facilitates a dynamic school exchange between Austria and Luxembourg in the school years 2023/24.
Sport- und Musik-Rg/SSM Akademiestraße and Sportlycée Luxembourg are both public institutions committed to a common goal: helping talented young athletes balance rigorous training with secondary education. To foster organizational growth and fresh perspectives, the schools launched a series of mutual one-week visits. ENOSS played a vital role in this partnership, connecting the two institutions and providing expert guidance during the initial planning phases.
First stop: Luxembourg
From March 26–31, 2023, a delegation of 20 Austrian student-athletes, teachers, and coaches traveled to Luxembourg. The packed itinerary featured a mix of collaborative sports training, expert meetings, and cultural excursions. For a truly immersive experience, the Austrian students were hosted by local Luxembourgish families.
Learning beyond the field
The exchange went deeper than just physical training. Sportlycée experts led a series of specialized workshops, including:
-
“My Dual Career Values”: Based on the EU-funded STARTING 11 project, this session utilized the The European Dual Career Toolkit. This toolkit, co-designed by ENOSS’ associate experts, provides a roadmap for institutions to support athletes across sport, education, and the labor market.
-
Mental Aspects in Sport: A session focused on the psychological resilience required for elite competition.
-
A champion’s perspective: The week culminated in an inspiring presentation by three-time Olympian swimmer Laurent Carnol, now Deputy Technical Director of the Luxembourg Olympic and Sporting Committee.
What’s next? The momentum continues: In 2024, the exchange will head to Salzburg, Austria, for the second leg of this international journey.
REVIEW OF THE ENOSS CONFERENCE IN LUXEMBOURG
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. Hosted by Sportlycée Luxembourg & TWIN, the event gave stage to innovative international approaches in the core areas of System Development, Psychology & 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.”
Pascal Schaul, #enoss2021 host
Envisaging the 2030 sport school
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.”
Ruan Schlebusch, #enoss2021 keynote speaker
The conference’s Round Table united a manifold consortium of top-class experts:
- Kairis Ulp, Estonia (Policy Officer of the European Commission Sport Unit)
- Tom de Groen, The Netherlands (National Coordinator of the Expert Centre for Secondary Education & Topsport)
- Erla Ragnarsdottir, Iceland (Principal of the Flensborg School)
- Raymond Conzemius, Luxembourg (Assistant Sports Director of the Luxembourg Olympic and Sporting Committee).
Their discussion 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.”
Raymond Conzemius, #enoss2021 panelist
Thank you to every participant for making #enoss2021 a most colourful mix of international innovation!
Downloads
- Opening presentation by Wolfgang Stockinger & Philipp Struwe: ENOSS – Yesterday, Tomorrow, Today (pdf)
- Keynote by Ruan Schlebusch: System Development – The Story of the Fire Lily (pdf)
- Presentation by Frank Muller: Psychology & Counselling – Dancing on the Tightrope (pdf)
Header photo courtesy of tilowiedensohler.com
SAVE THE DATE: ENOSS CONFERENCE #2
We are delighted to announce: The 2nd ENOSS Conference will take place on 1-2 December 2021 in the form of a virtual event.
2019 marked the starting point for ENOSS, with the first ever ENOSS Conference being held in the Olympic Stadium of Berlin and Schul- und Leistungssportzentrum Berlin. This conference united professionals from 16 European countries, spanning school managers, teachers, sport coaches, psychologists, counsellors, policy-makers, and delegates from the European Commission.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation of a conference in 2020 turned out not to be feasible. Now, with the conditions slowly improving, ENOSS is committed to reinforce its efforts to interconnect sport schools in Europe. In this regard, we are delighted to announce the 2nd ENOSS Conference on 2-3 December 2021.
Back on Track / New Ways
Without a doubt: The last 16 months have been a huge challenge. This counts for both talented athletes and practitioners. In the Corona crisis, secondary athlete education and talent development models were asked to come up with new strategies to navigate their systems through wild waters.
The ENOSS Conference 2021 will aim to help sport schools benefit from sharing the multifaceted innovation that has been created across Europe in, and thanks to this difficult period. “Back on Track : New Ways” is the corresponding theme of the conference.
Given the variables accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic, the ENOSS Conference 2021 will take place online and be free of charge to make it possible for a maximum amount of European practitioners to join the event. Simultaneously, the organisors will strive to create a most interactive virtual conference to enable practitioners to meet, discuss and exchange expertise and experience – even in digital form.
BERLIN OLYMPIC STADIUM HOSTS INAUGURAL ENOSS CONFERENCE
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 (OSP 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:
“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.”
Following, the international delegates concretized the requirements for the development of a European network in the form of expert work groups.
“The goals of this conference were exceeded. The instant success of this first-time-event makes clear that the timing for ENOSS is right, since EU sport policy is likely to keep focusing on the topic of dual career in the coming years.”
ENOSS co-initiator Philipp Struwe (SLZB, Germany)
Thank you to all international delegates who made the 1st ENOSS Conference a big success! If you are interested in becoming a future member of ENOSS, please get in touch with us.
Downloads
- The Next Step – Official conference programme
- Presentation Carnol, L.: Dual career & well-being – The athlete’s view
- Presentation Dietrich, J., Stegmann, A. & Schäfer, C.: Nutritition in competitive sports
- Presentation Stockinger, W.: TWIN perspectives
MAKING THE NEXT STEP: INTRODUCING ENOSS
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 ENOSS.
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.
Coming up: ENOSS Conference in 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. The official conference programme can be downloaded here.