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‘You don't need a degree to get a coaching job’: investigating the employability of sports coaching degree students

  • Edward Thomas Hall*
  • , Daryl T. Cowan
  • , Will Vickery
  • *Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    453 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Though highly popular, degree-level sports coaching qualifications are in their infancy, and it remains that ‘an individual intending to become an accredited coaching practitioner can only do so by undertaking their sport's national governing body (NGB) coaching award(s)’ [Nelson et al., 2006, p. 254. Formal, nonformal and informal coach learning: A holistic conceptualisation. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 1(3), 247–259]. Consequently, little is known about the development of HE sports coaching students’ employability. This study critically investigates sports coaching students’ degree-study motives, development of employability skills and perceptions of career prospects as graduates. Survey data and follow-up interviews from two U.K. post-92 universities reveal tensions between liberal and vocational philosophies of university education and concerns about the graduate labour market. Critical incidents and missed opportunities in students’ development of key skills for coaching during and outside of university are also discussed.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)883-903
    Number of pages21
    JournalSport, Education and Society
    Volume24
    Issue number8
    Early online date4 Jun 2018
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 13 Oct 2019

    Keywords

    • Higher education
    • Graduate employability
    • Identity
    • Professionalisation
    • Skills

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