Dual Career Development Perspective: Factors Affecting Quality of Post-sport Career Transition of Employed Olympic Athletes

Although Olympic athletes are celebrated for their sports achievements, they often face serious difficulties in their post-sport career employment. Factors of development that are affecting the quality of post-sport career transition of Olympic athletes are important to acknowledge in the dual career (DC) development perspective. Due to the side lining of academic activities, athletes are often not well prepared for the labor market. If they do not gain sufficient financial background in their careers, it can lead to a lack of proper economic inclusion of athletes in their post-sport career employment and further impact their lives. Career transitions of athletes have been the subject of research in different aspects of DC support (e.g., athletic, psychological, psychosocial, academic/vocational, financial), but most research is linked to the student-athlete DC perspective. Therefore, the aim of our research was to examine the impact of factors directly contributing to the quality of the post-sport career transition in Slovenian elite and Olympic athletes and the social class position and employment of these athletes after the termination of their sports career. From DC support practice, we learned that although athletes often have a proper level of education, their post-sport career transitions were not successful. To fill this gap, 168 elite athletes (Mage = 33.34, SD = 13.1) from Slovenia were asked to complete online questionnaires. The results showed a significant contribution of education and DC support-related finances (e.g., employment of athletes in public administration) to the quality of post-sport career transition. Regarding developing a national DC model and based on empirical research, this study identifies the social class position and employment status of former elite athletes from Slovenia. It also identifies opportunities for further research on the quality of the post-sport career transitions and perspectives on DC support. Understanding how different factors contribute to the integrated development of individual athletes to reach their potential in sports, education, and their post-sport career employment is important for theorists, DC practitioners, and stakeholders working with DC athletes. To develop a sufficient mechanism, DC support providers should consider supporting education along with the financial support of athletes during their sports careers and recognizing study-training ecosystems, based on good practices to successfully transition to their post-sport careers. These findings can also be useful for athletes and their athletic triangle support network (e.g., coaches and parents) as a support in the decision-making.

Does Bridge Employment Mitigate or Exacerbate Inequalities Later in Life?

This paper explores how gradual retirement impacts inequality later in life, with a focus on transitions from career to bridge employment. We use 26 years of longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study to document the various pathways that older Americans take when exiting the labor force, and examine how bridge employment impacts non-housing wealth and total wealth, including the present discounted value of Social Security benefits. We find that gradual retirement in the form of bridge employment neither exacerbates nor mitigates wealth inequalities among Americans who held career jobs later in life. We do find evidence that wealth inequalities grow among the subset of older career workers who transition from career employment to bridge employer at older ages. These findings provide quantitative evidence that bridge employment at older ages is taken by those who need to continue working financially and those who continue working for nonpecuniary reasons.

Using Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice to Investigate the Experience of Ontario College Graduates Who Are Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian, and Seek Career Employment and Permanent Residency in Canada

The thesis explores international community college graduates' from three former Soviet Republics experience transitioning from college to the labor market in Canada. Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice provides the theoretical framework to analyse the labour-market integration of 14 women and 16 men. The data collected from in-depth interviews and document analysis reveal that each participant in the study belongs to one of three distinct age groups. Differing significantly in terms of career habitus and career capital, the members of the three groups have distinctly different labour-market outcomes.

Work after retirement: worklife transitions of career public employees

Engaging in paid employment after claiming retirement benefits may be an important avenue for individuals to work longer as life expectancies rise. After separating from one's career employer, individuals may engage in paid work to stay active or to supplement their current level of retirement savings or both. Individuals who choose not to work after claiming may be expressing their preference to stay retired, perhaps because their retirement income is sufficient. However, the decision to work after claiming may be driven by the lack of retirement planning and insufficient savings, while the lack of post-claiming work may reflect the inability to find adequate employment opportunities. We use administrative records merged with panel data from several surveys of public employees in North Carolina to study the decision to engage in paid work after claiming retirement benefits. More than 60% of active workers plan to work after claiming benefits, while only around 42% of the same sample of individuals have engaged in post-claiming paid work in the first few years after leaving public sector employment. Despite this gap, stated work plans are strongly predictive of actual post-claiming work behavior. Our final analysis uses self-reported measures to gauge the financial well-being of our sample in the early years after leaving career employment.

The MMJ became a McJob: The McDonaldization of Multimedia Journalism

Broadcast news corporations want to make the Multimedia Journalist (MMJ) a vital part of their future employee structure. This study examines the present use of the MMJ method in television news production. A sample of television news professionals, from all DMA markets, was surveyed. The results show expertise in one skill is not required, but overall ability to complete tasks is desirable. The consequence is a "McDonaldization” of the profession. TV managers give new hires minimal training and work is routinized. The MMJ is becoming a “McJob”; attracting young workers with transitional goals for future career employment opportunities.

New Modes, New Challenges? The Influence of Extended Working Lives on the Late Employment Phase in Germany

In the past decade, old age security policies have aimed at providing incentives to prolong employment and change eligibility rules to reduce early retirement options; these are known as Active Ageing measures. Research reveals that extended working lives have altered exit patterns towards a prolongation of the late employment phase. This paper draws on conditions in the organisation of work in the late employment phase. Using fixed effects regression models with the SOEP v33 data, absolute changes in working hours at the individual level measure late career employment. The main results are in line with theoretical considerations and observe reduced hours worked on an individual level. Thus, the trend in reversing early exit patterns indicates a stronger organisation of late employment on the basis of flexible work. Moreover, while female labour participation is increasing, structural differences show a higher female attachment to features of labour flexibility. The conclusions presented concern the changing mode of the German conservative welfare state and reveal a higher degree of individualisation as a balancing mechanism in social policy. Zusammenfassung: Neue Modi, neue Herausforderungen? Der Einfluss verlängerter Lebensarbeitszeit auf die späte Erwerbsphase Älterer in Deutschland Alterssicherungspolitik der letzten Dekade fokussierte im Rahmen von Active Ageing Maßnahmen vor allem die Verlängerung von Erwerbsleben und die Verminderung der Anreize für Frühverrentungsoptionen. Forschung im Bereich der Alterssicherung zeigt, dass spätere Renteneintritte durch verlängerte Erwerbsarbeitszeit sichtbar sind. Der vorliegende Aufsatz reflektiert die strukturellen Bedingungen in der Organisation von Arbeit in der späten Erwerbsphase. Unter Anwendung von Regressionsmodellen mit fixen Effekten werden die SOEP v33 Daten genutzt, um absolute Veränderungen in Arbeitsstunden auf Individualebene zu messen. In Übereinstimmung mit den theoretischen Vorüberlegungen zeigt sich, dass sich Arbeitsstunden in der späten Erwerbsphase auf Individualebene reduziert haben. Die späte Erwerbsphase wird zunehmend über flexible Arbeitszeitmodelle organisiert. Darüber hinaus zeigen sich Unterschiede zwischen den Geschlechtern. Zwar steigt die Erwerbsquote älterer Frauen deutlich, jedoch ist die weibliche Arbeitsmarktbeteiligung in einem höheren Maß an flexible Arbeitsformen gebunden. Aus den Ergebnissen wird auf einen sich verändernden institutionellen Kontext des deutschen konservativen Wohlfahrtsstaats geschlossen, die auf ein höheres Maß an Individualisierung als sozialpolitischen Ausgleichsmechanismus hindeuten.

Transitions from career employment among public- and private-sector workers

Do the retirement patterns of public-sector workers differ from those in the private sector? The latter typically face a retirement landscape with exposure to market uncertainties through defined-contribution pension plans and private saving. Public-sector workers, in contrast, are often covered by defined-benefit pension plans that encourage retirement at relatively young ages and offer financial security at older ages. We examine how private- and public-sector workers transition from full-time career employment, with a focus on the importance of gradual retirement. To our surprise, we find that the prevalence of continued work after career employment, predominantly on bridge jobs with new employers, is very similar in the two sectors, a result with important implications in a rapidly aging society.