Key result
Elite student-athletes perceive the sport-study link as both a main resource and major injury barrier.
Why the study?
There is a void of studies examining how elite student-athletes experience the transition from secondary school to specific university degrees, such as Physical Activity and Sport Sciences.
Observational (n=11)
The study highlights that while the alignment of sport and academic degrees provides resources for elite student-athletes, practical subjects pose unique barriers such as injury risk, requiring tailored dual-career support.
May warrant tailored dual-career support for student-athletes; leaves open effective strategies to balance resources and injury risks.
Interest in studying the different transitions faced by elite athletes throughout their careers has grown significantly in recent years. While transition from secondary school to university is an important research area in Europe, there is a void of studies on how student-athletes experience the transition to specific degrees. One of the most sought-after university degrees among elite athletes in Spain is a degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (PASS). The first aim of this study was to investigate the main demands, barriers, and resources perceived by elite student-athletes in various phases of dual career transition to a university degree in PASS. The second aim was to identify the transition pathways pursued depending on the subjective importance they attached to sport and education. Eleven elite student-athletes (Mage = 20.7, SD = 1.6 years) who were in their second and third year of the degree in PASS participated in semi-structured interviews. Deductive-inductive thematic analysis of the interview transcripts revealed three main themes: (a) general university transition issues, (b) PASS-specific transition issues, and (c) transition pathways. Our results show that the close link between sport and the content of the degree was perceived by the elite student-athletes as their main resource. This link, however, was also perceived as a major barrier as the compulsory practical subjects entailed a risk of injury or overtraining that could affect both athletic and academic development. We noticed how the importance they attached to sport or studies varied at different moments of the transition period, a phenomenon we termed "fluid transition pathways". Dual career promotion for elite athletes is an important part of European sports policy and our findings provide new knowledge that could help Spanish PASS faculties develop specific assistance programs to support transitioning student-athletes.
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Mateu et al. (2020) conducted an observational in Elite student-athletes transitioning to higher education (n=11). Elite student-athletes transitioning to a sports science degree perceived the close link between sport and their studies as both their main resource and a major barrier due to injury risks.
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