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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1432850
This article is part of the Research Topic Critical Issues in the Process of the Career Development and Transition of Athletes View all 7 articles

Dual Career in the Workplace: Co-creation of a Conceptual Framework by Employers and Employee-Sportspersons incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility and Brand Alignment

Provisionally accepted
Andrea Fusco Andrea Fusco 1Ciaran Macdonncha Ciaran Macdonncha 2,3*Laura Capranica Laura Capranica 4,5Chloé Barat Chloé Barat 6Alberto Bichi Alberto Bichi 6Laurence Blondel Laurence Blondel 5,7Rosemary Daniel Rosemary Daniel 8Mojca Doupona Mojca Doupona 5,9António J. Figueiredo António J. Figueiredo 10,5Ole Keldorf Ole Keldorf 11,5Giovanni Mattia Giovanni Mattia 12Olga Papale Olga Papale 13Milovan Bratić Milovan Bratić 14Viktorija Pecnikar Oblak Viktorija Pecnikar Oblak 9Valeria Pernetti Valeria Pernetti 15Andrej Pisl Andrej Pisl 16Klement Podnar Klement Podnar 17Lotte Juhl Lotte Juhl 11Ian Sherwin Ian Sherwin 8Nenad Stojiljkovic Nenad Stojiljkovic 14Nataša Verk Nataša Verk 17Giles D. Warrington Giles D. Warrington 3,8Michela Mingione Michela Mingione 18
  • 1 Department of Medicine and Sciences of Aging, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy
  • 2 Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland, Limerik, Ireland
  • 3 Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
  • 4 Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Sicily, Italy
  • 5 European Athlete as Student (EAS) Network, Malta, Malta
  • 6 EPSI, Brussels, Belgium
  • 7 National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP), Paris, France
  • 8 Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
  • 9 Department of Sport Sociology, Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 10 Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
  • 11 Sciences, Society and Health Elite Sport Academy Aarhus (ESAA), Aarhus, Denmark
  • 12 Roma Tre University, Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • 13 Department of Human, Social and Health Sciences, University of Cassino, Cassino, Lazio, Italy
  • 14 Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia
  • 15 Human Age Institute Foundation, Milano, Italy
  • 16 EUSA Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 17 Department of Marketing Communication and Public Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 18 Università telematica San Raffaele, Rome, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The purpose of this study was to provide an evidence base and conceptual framework to inform new guidelines for achieving a balance between sports and employment commitments (i.e., dual career, DC) of the employee-sportspersons. To shape a DC discourse in the workplace, the distinct and combined views of the employee-sportspersons (i.e., the Employee), the managers (i.e., the Employer) were considered. Following a concept mapping methodology, 257 international participants (25% employers and 75% employee-sportspersons) sorted and rated 50 potential statements associated with DC circumstances and supports in the workplace. Six distinct clusters emerged, with the combined employers-employee co-creation scenario assigning 6 statements to the micro dimension (Cluster 1=Workplace Benefits), 4 statements to the meso dimension (Cluster 2=Role of National Sports Governing Bodies), 19 statements to the macro dimension (Cluster 3=Dual Career Policy Development), 4 and 5 statements to the organizational dimensions (Cluster 4= Employee-Employer Collaboration and Responsibility; Cluster 5=Sport Career Integration), and 12 statements to the policy (Cluster 6=Workplace Strategies for Dual Career Support) dimension. With respect to the employers, the employee-sportspersons showed higher scores (p>0.05) for importance of clusters 2, 4, and 6, and for feasibility of clusters 2 and 6. These findings suggest priorities for changes within the DC dimensions identified, and envisage flexible models for aligning corporate brand values and corporate social responsibility strategies through meaningful and proactive DC support of the employee-sportspersons in the workplace. The findings provide a rigorously derived evidence base to inform the formulation of new DC workplace guidelines.

    Keywords: concept mapping 1, dual career networks 2, value creation 3, employee wellness 4, dual career guidelines 5

    Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Fusco, Macdonncha, Capranica, Barat, Bichi, Blondel, Daniel, Doupona, Figueiredo, Keldorf, Mattia, Papale, Bratić, Pecnikar Oblak, Pernetti, Pisl, Podnar, Juhl, Sherwin, Stojiljkovic, Verk, Warrington and Mingione. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ciaran Macdonncha, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland, Limerik, Ireland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.