Background/Purpose This study investigated the academic and career interest of sport management students from two regional state institutions. The goals were to identify future sport industry prospects' perceptions and needs in order to properly instruct, advise, and prepare them obtaining a career in sport business.
Method Two hundred and twenty one undergraduate and graduate students completed a 43-item questionnaire based on the studies of Lewis and Quarterman (2006) and others. The contents covered: (a) demographic information, (b) career and sport interest, (c) sport viewing habits, (d) preferable work setting, (e) preferable developed content knowledge, and (f) self-perceived traits. Reliability tests and retests were performed for reliability of the instrument and participants' responses.
Analysis/Results Students are more interested in working for the professional franchises or intercollegiate athletics. They also desire to learn more communication and marketing skills. The stepwise regression analysis indicated that participants' rating in preferable sport career can be best predicted by “preferable developed content knowledge” and “love for sports”. Both ratings in “preferable work setting” and “love for sports” can effectively predict participants' “academic and career interest”.
Conclusions The findings support the general notion that sport jobs are commonly filled by sport lovers and enthusiasts. The findings also intrigue the researchers to address issues such as: (a) the lack of diversity and global awareness, (b) limited perspective and understanding about the career choices, and (d) recruitment and development of future female students.
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