European student-athletes’ perceptions on dual career outcomes and services

The EU guidelines on dual careers (i.e., sport and education) encourage Member States to implement appropriate dual career services for elite student-athletes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate: i) student-athletes’ perceptions regarding their sport and academic career paths; and ii) existing and possible implementations of dual career services. A 25-item semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 221 European elite student-athletes involved in individual and team sports at national and international levels. Differences (p≤0.05) for nationality, gender, type of sport, and competition level emerged. Female athletes tended to place higher efforts in their academic career, whereas individual sports athletes reported a low support from academic staff. Furthermore, international level athletes perceived a higher impact of sport commitment on their academic career with respect to their national counterparts. Low perceptions emerged for dual career consideration at academic and sport environments, support of faculty staff, and time schedule adaptation at academic and sport levels. In general, student-athletes demanded implementations at academic level (i.e., flexibility, on-line education) and sport support. National academic and sports systems influence student-athletes’ perceptions of their dual career, especially at highest sport level. Flexibility, long-distance learning, and tutoring support should be improved in EU Member States.