Vocational careers of retired Olympic athletes from Switzerland: A person-oriented study

2021 ◽  
pp. 101269022110624
Author(s):  
Michael J Schmid ◽  
Merlin Örencik ◽  
Jürg Schmid ◽  
Siegfried Nagel ◽  
Achim Conzelmann
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
General Population ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Personal Resources ◽  
Dual Career ◽  
Major Goal ◽  
Former Athletes ◽  
Olympic Athletes

For many high-performance athletes, competing in the Olympic Games is a major goal. Achieving this goal requires more than ever substantial investments of time and personal resources towards the sports career over several years. Thus, some athletes neglect other areas of life (e.g. education), which can pose a problem for the time after high-performance sport, while other athletes pursue a dual career. Previous studies have shown that former high-performance athletes achieved higher levels of education and better vocational positions than the general population. Due to the advancing professionalization and commercialization of high-performance sport, the question emerges whether these results are valid for athletes that are more recently retired. In addition, cross-cultural generalisability of these findings are of interest. For this purpose, 341 former athletes representing Switzerland at the Olympics were surveyed about their athletic, educational, and vocational careers. It turns out that these athletes obtained more degrees of higher education than the general population. Relative to their siblings, they have higher school-leaving certificates and work in more prestigious occupations. Following the holistic-interactionistic paradigm, person-oriented analyses was performed and revealed nine – mostly satisfactory – vocational career patterns. Hence, involvement in high-performance sport facilitates rather than hinders a successful vocational career.

scholarly journals Dual Career Support Activities of High-Performance Students-Athletes in the Project “More than Gold”

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilvis Abelkalns ◽  
◽  
Laura Capranica ◽  
Mojca Doupona ◽  
Anda Paegle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Dual Career ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Career Support ◽  
Support Provision ◽  
The University ◽  
Academic Year

One of the European Union’s (EU) priorities in sports is the holistic development of athletes through combining high-performance sports with higher education. Within the ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnership “More than Gold” (MTG, 603346-EPP-1-2018-1-LV-SPO-SCP), the aim of the empirical research was to clarify and analyse the opinions of high-performance athletes of five Member States on the opportunities for Dual Career (DC) implementation as well as support provision for high-performance athletes within their DC implementation. Survey as the research method was chosen applying questionnaire, interview and focus-group discussion as data collection methods. The research sample included in this work comprised 284 athletes. The data obtained revealed the challenges related to overlapping schedules, long distance from the university to the training venue, and the lack of understanding and flexibility from the academic staff, which was especially challenging in the first academic year. The respondents appreciated the support of DC tutors. Finally, the opinion of experts allowed to identify 9 aspects to be implemented within the DC perspective (e. g., access to educational facilities, tutorship, psychological support). Findings urge to implement DC programmes at higher education institutions (HEIs) comprising DC guidance, flexible study and training schedules, customized curricula, distance learning, proximity of training facilities and sports services, psychological and career support services tailored for elite-athletes. Therefore, the More Than Gold Guidelines for HEIs are crucial for the development of the European DC culture.

Administrative Environment And Employee Prductivity In Higher Education A Theoritical View

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 230-243
Author(s):  
Jamal Asad Mezel ◽  
Kiran Das Naik Eslavath
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Employee Productivity ◽  
Administrative Staff ◽  
Administrative Employees

Ensure that from the above theoretical review on administrative context and employee productivity in higher education and there is a positive association between work engagement of faculty members and administrative staff motivate the employees in accomplishing their work regardless of any result that they are more productive. Researchers argue the fact that the physical environment of the institutional and administrative, employees effect job perception attitudes and job satisfaction which is in sequence affects the job performance and employee productivity. Improving the work environment in higher educational institution there is a dissatisfaction and complaints of employee while increasing their productivity the more satisfied employee are with their jobs in high performance and productivity.

On The Hydrodynamics Of A Skiff At Different Crew Positions

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignazio Maria Viola ◽  
Joshua Enlander
Keyword(s):  
Uncertainty Analysis ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Towing Tank ◽  
Lower Resistance ◽  
Model Scale ◽  
Sailing Boat ◽  
Large Vessels

A set of towing tank tests was undertaken on a 1:4-model-scale high-performance small sailing boat, which was a candidate for the 2016 Olympic games. The resistance, sink and trim were measured and uncertainty analysis was completed. The boat was tested for different longitudinal positions of the crew in displacement, transition and fully planning regimes. The resistance measurements in the towing tank were well correlated with established empirical formulations developed for planning hulls. It was found that at low Froude numbers, forward crew positions allow lower resistance and resistance increases significantly for after crew positions, while at higher Froude numbers after positions allow lower resistance, and the resistance is less sensible to the crew position. These findings are in agreement with sailor experience and with measurements performed by other authors on large vessels.

Adaptation to Athletic Retirement and Perceptions About Aging: A Qualitative Study of Retired Olympic Athletes

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Michelle Pannor Silver
Keyword(s):  
Role Models ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Olympic Athletes ◽  
Athletic Retirement ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Health And Well Being

Self-perceptions about aging have implications for health and well-being; however, less is known about how these perceptions influence adaptation to major life transitions. The goal of this study was to examine how high-performance athletes’ perceptions about aging influenced their adaptation to athletic retirement. In-depth interviews conducted with 24 retired Olympic athletes using thematic analysis yielded three key themes: (a) perceptions about aging influenced participants’ postretirement exercise habits, (b) perceptions about aging motivated participants to engage in civic activities, and (c) participants who lacked formative perceptions about aging associated their athletic retirement with their own lost sense of purpose. These findings provide evidence that perceptions about aging influence athletes’ adaptation to retirement by directing their subsequent engagement in postretirement activities. Furthermore, this research highlights theoretical implications for the literature regarding embodied processes, retirement transitions, role models, and adaptation to new physical states.

The relationship between supportive campus environment and cultural diversity in enhancing students’ sense of belonging in higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaw Owusu-Agyeman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Campus Environment ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The current study examines the moderating effect of supportive campus environment on the relationship between cultural diversity and students’ sense of belonging in a university in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was designed and used to gather data from a sample of 2,026 registered undergraduate students. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 software, the data gathered were analysed by way of hierarchical regression analysis. Findings Results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that supportive campus environment and cross-cultural interaction serve as strong predictors of students’ sense of belonging. Furthermore, a simple slope analysis showed that supportive campus environment enhance: the positive relationship between cross-cultural interaction and students’ sense of belonging; and the positive relationship between students’ interaction with diverse peers and their sense of belonging. Originality/value This study addresses important knowledge and practical gaps in the relationship between supportive campus environment, cultural diversity and students’ sense of belonging in higher education. The results further highlight the significance of institutional structures, policies and practices that aim at enhancing students’ sense of belonging and reducing possible feeling of otherlings that arise due to a lack of supportive campus structures.

scholarly journals Exploring global responsibility in higher education students’ cross-cultural dialogues

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Lehtomäki ◽  
Josephine Moate ◽  
Hanna Posti-Ahokas
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Global Education ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Educational Transformation ◽  
Education Professionals ◽  
Personal Significance ◽  
Global Responsibility ◽  
Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽  
Future Education

This study engages with current debate around global education and internationalization of higher education(HE). There is an identified need to critically reflect on how global education commitments are introduced to HE students, and how the debates are brought to individual as well as institutional levels. The study explores how students in a Finnish university develop their understanding of global education, citizenship and potential dispositions towards global responsibility. The students participated in an international seminar on the global Education for All (EFA) process, with purposefully planned participatory activities and cross-cultural dialogues, and reflected on their learning about the global process in assignments. A rigorous qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on the students’ written learning assignments ( n = 43). The analysis revealed that students learned about the global EFA process and targets, and reflected on general and personal significance of the process as well as the connections between the local and global. They placed the responsibility for educational transformation in three distinct levels: the ‘other’; ‘we’; and ‘I’. The findings suggest that purposefully designed learning activities guide students to develop their understanding of global education and to disposition themselves as responsible future education professionals, both prerequisites of global citizenship and transformation of education.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural effects of COVID-19 on higher education learning and teaching practice: A case study from Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
Margarita Kefalaki ◽  
◽  
Michael Nevradakis ◽  
Qing Li ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Cultural Effects ◽  
Global Pandemic

COVID-19 has greatly impacted all aspects of our everyday lives. A global pandemic of this magnitude, even as we now emerge from strict measures such as lockdowns and await the potential for a ‘new tomorrow’ with the arrival of vaccines, will certainly have long-lasting consequences. We will have to adapt and learn to live in a different way. Accordingly, teaching and learning have also been greatly impacted. Changes to academic curricula have had tremendous cross-cultural effects on higher education students. This study will investigate, by way of focus groups comprised of students studying at Greek universities during the pandemic, the cross-cultural effects that this ‘global experience’ has had on higher education, and particularly on students in Greek universities. The data collection tools are interviews and observations gathered from focus groups.

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