Preparing for the Workforce as a Student-Athlete

By: Tucker Creevy & James Harness

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

          The current project aimed to design and implement a Canvas workshop that would serve as a platform to prepare student-athletes as they begin to approach the transition from the athletic context to the professional workplace environment. Since research suggests that student-athletes are likely to experience obstacles as they enter the workforce upon graduation, our Canvas workshop is designed to equip student-athletes with the necessary resources to identify their career personality and core values, assess self-efficacy, and learn skills that are important to successful employment such as resume building and interviewing techniques. In addition, student-athletes will have access to a plethora of resources geared to aid the transition to the workforce with topics pertaining to stress management, self-care, burnout prevention, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and time management. It is our hope that the Canvas workshop will provide student-athletes with the appropriate resources to seek successful employment post-graduation as well as transition to the workforce in a manner that conveys confidence and readiness to future employers.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Social Justice Needs: Student-Athletes

          College students in general may experience high amounts of confusion,stress, and distress when attempting to navigate the transitory period between college graduation and entering the professional workforce. Students during this time may face an increase in social pressures to have one’s career and work identities figured out and are typically expected by employers to be knowledgeable and competent in their professional skills and abilities. Furthermore, students may have a lack of guidance in navigating the multitude of varying resources that implement career-oriented skills on their own. When students are able to access beneficial resources and information as it pertains to career-based skills and knowledge, it may be difficult to know how these best translate to work as well as how to implement them on a practical level. 

          While college non-athlete students face large workloads and high amounts of stress, collegiate student-athletes may experience even more elevated rates of stress due to the dual demands of academics and athletics (Wilson & Pritchard, 2005). Student-athletes are typically expected to balance the challenges of college academics while maintaining a peak physical fitness level and the responsibilities associated with sports team membership (Wilson & Pritchard, 2005). Furthermore, research suggests that collegiate student-athletes may face increased numbers of barriers to accessing mental health services when compared to non-athletes due to peer norms and perceived stigmas from teammates as well as coaches (Moreland, Coxe, & Yang, 2018).  

          It is reported that the majority of student-athletes will leave the competitive sport landscape upon graduation from college yet are often not ready to enter the job market (Wendling & Sagas, 2020). As student-athletes typically have extensive athletic and academic demands, this can make it immensely difficult to be properly prepared for a career upon graduation (Wendling & Sagas, 2020). Their commitment to sport may leave little time and energy to engage in non-sport-related activities and plan for their vocational future (Wendling & Sagas, 2020). This results in many student-athletes exhibiting poor career planning and lower career maturity relative to other students, leading to transitional challenges after college (Wendling & Sagas, 2020).  

          Due to not having enough time to fully participate in academic and outside hobbies and interests outside of sport, student-athletes may be more likely to postpone major developmental tasks until they are out of college (Wendling & Sagas, 2020). This may lead to career development deficiencies and a lack of adequate preparation for life after athletics (Wendling & Sagas, 2020). Research posits that planning career-development activities prior to graduating college can be beneficial in reducing strains associated with transitioning outside of sport and in the shift in identity from that of a student-athlete to that of a professional worker (Wendling & Sagas, 2020). Therefore, student-athletes could benefit greatly from the implementation of an educational course in collaboration with PSU Harrisburg Athletics Department that will serve to address the needs of student-athletes through the consolidation of career-based resources, information, assessments, videos, reflections, and discussions in the form of an online canvas class module.

Theoretical Rationale: Super’s Life-Span, Life-Space Theory & Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)

          To best address the social justice as well as career-based needs of our student athletes at Penn State Harrisburg, we designed a Canvas workshop with objectives modeled through the following theories: 1) Super’s Life-Span, Life-Space Theory (Super, 1990), 2) Holland’s Theory of Career Choice (Holland, 1973), 3) Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994), and 4) Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA) (Dawis & Lofquist, 1984). Super’s Life-Span, Life-Space Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) served as the overarching theories of interest for our career consultation project, which expanded off Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA) and Holland’s Theory of Career Choice (RIASEC). Super’s Life-Span, Life Space Theory (1990) is centered around the notion that career development is viewed as a continuous, life-long process whereby our interests, attitudes, personality, identity, and work experience shape one’s overall self-concept. Throughout the course of our lives, we maintain and identify with several social roles including but not limited to the following: student, student-athlete, significant other, employee, peer, role model, and so on. It is expected that the roles we obtain throughout the course of our lives will serve to increase our maturity, both from a personal and vocational standpoint.  

            In addition to Super’s Life Span, Life Space Theory (1990), Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) was implemented due to its convergence to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (1986). SCCT posits that career development is based upon the following three variables: self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and goals. Self-efficacy is defined as “an individual’s personal beliefs about his or her capabilities to perform particular behaviors or course of action (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2002). Self-efficacy is contingent upon personal performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences (e.g., observation of peers), social persuasion, and emotional states (e.g., stress and anxiety) (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2002). Research suggests that student-athletes who reported feeling more satisfied with their school’s academic support services were more likely to report higher levels of career decision-making self-efficacy (Burns, Jasinski, Dunn, & Fletcher, 2013).  

            The rationale as to why these specific theories were chosen is largely attributed to the aims and driving forces of our project: career-based skills building, installation of hope, goal identification, consciousness raising and self-efficacy, and providing psychoeducation on the transition from a college setting and lifestyle to a professional one. Super’s Life-Span, Life-Space Theory was implemented to provide skills via our training modules with the hope of increasing career maturity and coping abilities of student-athletes as they transition from a student-athlete to a professional worker. Through Super’s Theory, it is our goal to improve one’s self-concept through provided resources so that student-athletes may feel confident about handling the roles and responsibilities of the workforce. SCCT was employed to help identify and improve student-athletes’ self-efficacy as it pertains to professional work.  

          First, Holland’s Theory of Career Choice (RIASEC) served as the foundational model to aid career exploration and identity development. Through the utilization of RIASEC scores, student-athletes will be granted the opportunity to explore their identity based on their interests and personality types. The goal is that student-athletes will explore potential careers that are both congruent and consistent with their RIASEC scores. Second, SCCT will be implemented due to the strong emphasis on self-efficacy. Self-efficacy will be assessed through the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), which is a 10-item questionnaire designed to measure one’s ability to cope with difficult life situations. Overall, the central focus of this career consultation project is to help student athletes identify ways to market their skills obtained from both the academic and athletic context. It is our hope that this project will equip student-athletes with the appropriate resources to properly assess and identify marketable skills as well as provide effective means to communicate these results whether through resume or interview. Last, we hope that the aforementioned resources provided through our Canvas workshop serve to increase career maturity and coping abilities (Super, 1990) of student-athletes as they begin to develop their self-concept as a working professional outside of the athletic context. 

Resources Needed

          As this Canvas course is asynchronous, does not necessitate a facilitator, is online, and is done at the students’ own pace, there are not large requirements for students to access and complete this course. Students primarily need a working electronic device such as a computer, tablet, smartphone, etc., in order to access the course page through the Canvas website. Students also need to be enrolled in Penn State Harrisburg, have access to their student WebAccess, Canvas email, and login information, and have the ability to access the Career Services department in order to participate in the mock interview and resume critique services offered there. Lastly, if students wished to access physical copies of any resources posted within the course, they must have access to a printer or copier. Any moderator or individual who wishes to restructure the format of the course, add new resources, update outdated information, or monitor the progress of students who work through the course must have access and knowledge of the structure of the Canvas system 

Delivering Services

         The finalized Canvas workshop was delivered to Rashaan Carlton, who currently serves as the Athletic Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Penn State Harrisburg. Given that the project is designed to the specific population of student-athletes, accessibility and implementation of the Canvas workshop will be under the direct supervision of Rashaan Carlton. It is our hope that the finalized product will be adopted and employed by Career Services at Penn State Harrisburg to best address career-related concerns of prospective and current student-athletes.

Expected Outcomes: Ready for the Workforce

          Upon completion of the Canvas course, students ideally should be able to gain a wide range of knowledge, information, skills, and guidance that may help them successfully tackle challenges faced as a current student-athlete and those associated with the transition towards a professional working role. Specifically, these may include helping student-athletes: 

• Identify their skills and interests that may apply to future work and careers 
• Build their self-efficacy and confidence in their own abilities 
• Create their professional resume, cover letter, and curriculum vitae 
• Learn job interview skills and techniques 
• Cope with increased workloads as a student-athlete as well as with the transition after graduating 
• Learn about staying active, healthy sleeping patterns, and proper nutrition after they move on from their collegiate role 
• Learn about common mental health challenges faced by those during this transition and how to help

As time goes on, some of the posted resources, assessments, and/or assignments may become outdated and new information will be required to provide the most up to date knowledge for students to thrive in college and the workforce. Therefore, it would be prudent for moderators and editors to provide necessary updates on the information within the course. Furthermore, providing some kind of reflective survey that allows students to process and comment on the efficacy of the course, provide feedback, and point out the least and most helpful areas may promote the positive growth of the online modules longitudinally. It would also be beneficial to monitor student activity within the course in order to identify how often the class is utilized by students so that necessary changes could be made in the future.

The Finished Product

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 

Burns, G.N., Jasinski, D., Dunn, S., & Fletcher, D. (2013). Academic support services and career decision-making self-efficacy in student athletes. The Career Development Quarterly, 61(2), 161-167. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-0045.2013.00044.x                 

Dawis, R. V., & Lofquist, L. H. (1984). A psychological theory of work adjustment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. doi: 10.1006/jvbe.1993.1037           

Holland, J. L. 1973. Making vocational choices. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.        

Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of  career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79-122. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027 

Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (2002). Social cognitive career theory. In D. Brown (Ed.), Career choice and development (pp. 255– 311). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

Moreland, J. J., Coxe, K. A., & Yang, J. (2018). Collegiate athletes mental health services  utilization: A systematic review of conceptualizations, operationalizations, facilitators, and barriers. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 7(1), 58–69. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2017.04.009 

Super, D.E. (1990). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. In D. Brown & L. Brooks, The Jossey-Bass management series and The Jossey-Bass social and behavioral science series. Career choice and development: Applying contemporary theories to practice (p. 197–261). Jossey-Bass. 

Schwarzer, R., & Jerusalem, M. (1995). Generalized Self-Efficacy scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright, & M. Johnston, Measures in health psychology: A user’s portfolio. Causal and control beliefs (pp. 35-37). Windsor, UK: NFER-NELSON.

Wendling, E., & Sagas, M. (2020). An application of the social cognitive career theory model of career self-management to college athletes’ career planning for life after sport. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00009 

Wilson, G. & Pritchard, M. (2005). Comparing sources of stress in college student athletes and  non-athletes. The Online Journal of Sports Psychology, 7(1). Retrieved 3 May, 2020, from http://amyburris.atspace.com/StressPDF.pdf