This article isn't a review of a theory or a training
method or even an interview with a coach or an athlete, as many of you are used
to. This is me having a go at my own field, my own subject, my own passion.
Sports Science and the fitness industry is a mess. In particular the route
towards coaching sport and elite level sport in the UK and Ireland.
It is the wild west of the job markets.
It may seem a bit hypocritical of me to be slagging off a
field I am trying to get into, but I am looking to teach not be an elite coach.
I don't like the job prospects based on the experience, already worked there
and the research I have done. I am happier teaching at a university, college
and or school PE/Sport Science.
The content of this article is based on an essay I just
wrote for my PGCE course, for the module Theory, Policy and Education. Where I
discuss the attractiveness of working in elite sport rather than moving your
focus to the Public Health sector where there is work and the skills of a Sport
Scientist can be transferable. Essay is based on UK markets as that is where my
current placements are and where I intend on working.
I was spurred onto move my report to the blog after I heard
the news from the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and Connacht Rugby. They both
advertised internships which a high level of qualifications, long hours
and no salary. In short these advertisements were laughable and an
embarrassment to those who are working to get into the field. So much so they
were pulled down by both employers due to the backlash they received. I will
share the screenshots below and discuss.
Introduction and Aim
The aim of this report is to investigate the delivery of
Sport Science (SS) at Higher Education (HE) in the United Kingdom, and to shed
light on the lack of transparency within the SS field regarding its portrayal
in the media, university and by careers advisers. This will include looking at
how it is taught, comments by Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher
Education and rated by students. Further analysis will show statistics on
number of graduates per year and compare it to the current job market,
government targets and social issues that may impact the subject and the
public. The report will be making the majority of its
points and discussions referring to the article entitled “What can you do
with a sports science degree?” (THE,
2016) and to a few others to support its stance on the subject (AAAS, 2004; Foster,
2010; Doust, 2011).
- Link for original article: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/subjects/what-can-you-do-sports-science-degree
The aforementioned article discusses what skills, jobs, and
potential further study is available. It presents the field with the promise of
a good salary, employment and prospects. Yet it fails to be critical of the
subject and the layout of other options besides elite level sports jobs. It is
a Time Higher Education (THE) article and for its intended audience, it needed
to be short, snappy and easy to read. If it had a large amount of text
highlighting positives and negatives and heavy analysis, combined with
statistics, it would have put a lot of people off. Writing an article is very
different to writing a report. This is why when you read something in the news
compared to reading the actual report, it leaves out a lot of data and
potential for opinion swaying themes.
The other papers reviewed to support the original article, discuss
sports science in a very similar way, crucially leaving out any real critical
analysis and any opinions by current or former students. Coincidentally, and
conveniently, it shows nothing negative or undesirable that may cause someone
to stop reading and ponder their thoughts about the subject. Instead, it talks
as if it is all smooth sailing. This report will go into significant detail
about SS, to express what is really happening in the field alongside linking it
back with SS placements and continued personal professional development (CPPD).
(for context, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for
Higher Education is a review carried out every 6 years on each individual
university. So in the original essay I talked about my own university
(Teesside) rankings and ratings and added the ratings/rankings of its sports
courses as reviewed by the students. Neither QAA and or the Student survey
will be discussed in this article as it will have no significant bearing).
What is Sport Science?
SS can be defined as “a
discipline that studies how the human body works during exercise, and how sport
and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole
body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally incorporates areas
of physiology, psychology, biomechanics, and biokinetics” (TCUG,
2018; Wiki, 2018). SS was first taught in the UK in 1946 at the University of
Birmingham (UB) (UB, 2014). Currently, there are 154 Universities in the UK (REF2014,
2014; Wiki, 2017; England, 2018) as of 2017, 81 of which teach variations of SS
and/or SES (Guardian, 2018).
In the 2016/17 academic year, 10,165 SS students graduated (HESCU,
2017) from a HE establishment (Appendix 1.0). SS is taught through a variance
of delivery methods including (but not limited to); lectures, seminars,
practicals, lab work, conferences, presentations, essays, group work and poster
presentations. The professional standards and governing body of SS
accreditation in the UK is the British Association of Sport and Exercise
Scientists (BASES) (BASES, 2018). They provide all students, graduates and
members continued personal professional development (CPPD) to keep up with the
new and current scientific knowledge (BASES, 2018). SS, like many courses at university, is rated by the National
Student Survey (NSS) (Thestudentsurvey.com, 2018).
University and Higher Education (HE)
HE is defined by the Further and Higher Education Act
in 1992 (Legislation.gov.uk, 1992) as “any
UK University designated by Parliamentary Order, is eligible to receive funding
grants” (THE, 1997; Wiki, 2017). From 1980 to 2018, there has been a significant
increase of students across all university courses. In 1980, only 68,000 people
were starting university (Appendix 2.0). However, between 2015 and 2016
academic year, there was recorded 2.28 million students at HE (Universitiesuk.ac.uk,
2017). More recently, just this past September, over 500,000 started their
academic journey (Coughlan, 2017). One of the reasons for such a spike over the
years for student numbers at HE is student loans. The introduction of these
student loans (Blake, 2010) has made university more accessible to those that
would never have thought it possible (Appendix 2.0). “Poorer” students have
increased in numbers steadily over the years but there still remains a divide
between the wealthy and less well-off (Appendix 3.0).
Overall, this means more graduates, and
one could argue with the original article (THE, 2016), that by presenting
courses in such a positive light more students will go to university due to the
creation of these loans without realising other people will be doing the same
(leading to raising the standards for job requirements).
This is especially the case as the sports industry is one
of the fastest and highest earners in recent years. It was predicted in 2015
that by 2019 the industry would be worth 73.5 billion dollars (Heitner, 2015).
In hindsight, this was a fair estimate, but now looking at the market value,
this number has increased significantly to 90.9 billion dollars (Statista,
2014).
Sport Science (SS)
Graduate Prospects
A current SS or SES graduate would expect to go straight
into work or continue their education in the following sectors (as advertised
across a range of career sites); researcher (Jobs.ac.uk, 2018), lecturer (Prospectus.ac.uk,
2018a), PE teacher (NCS, 2018f), personal trainer (NCS, 2018g), gym instructor (NCS,
2018n), sports coach (NCS, 2018j), sports therapist (Prospectus.ac.uk, 2018b), sports
scientist (NCS, 2018m), sports physiotherapist (NCS, 2018L), sports
psychologist (NCS, 2018i), leisure centre manager (NCS, 2018e), lab technician
(NCS, 2018d), strength and conditioning coach (NSCA, 2016) and finally, a sports
journalist (Prospects.ac.uk, 2018c). If
one wanted to continue their education, they would usually do an MSc in SS or
SES, a PGCE (to go and teach in schools or colleges) (Appendix 1.0) and/or be
part of a research project to aim for a publication.
However, considering the job market in the UK, there are
very few jobs in the relevant degrees for these aspiring graduates. In fact,
there is an oversaturation in the sports sector. In 2016 across the EU, there were
1.7 million people working in sports related jobs with 431,000 in the UK alone (Ec.europa.eu,
2018a) (Appendix 5.0). Since 2011 to 2016, the number of sports related jobs in
the UK has increased by 15.11% (Ec.europa.eu, 2018b) (Appendices 4.0 and 6.0)
which is good.
Interestingly though, out of the 431,000, only 32.8% are
employed with tertiary education (HE education) in the UK (Ec.europa.eu, 2018b)
(Appendix 8.0). Being in this sector, those with a higher education often find
themselves either having to study more to get the job they want. On the flip
side, graduates end up in a job they are “too qualified” for and generally
unrelated to their field.
Flaws with the Sports
Job Market
A common example is having a sports science degree yet only
working as a gym instructor. As the gym instructor role does not require a
university education, the qualification can be completed within a few weeks and
is very cheap (Ymcafit.org.uk, 2018). This is due to the Level 2 dictating the
industry from an insurance point of view (every gym must employ staff with this
qualification). With this knowledge, then why do a degree if you do not need
one to work in a gym? This is especially so when the statistics on the personal
training industry are not promising - in 2016, there were over 13,770
registered personal trainers in the UK, and out of that number, 58% felt they
have no job security. This is probably due to the fact that 80% of them are
self-employed and rely on supporting themselves rather having a fixed wage (Insure4Sport,
2016). Unfortunately in some cases, some aspiring students have had the
disappointing realisation that their dream career really cannot support them
financially.
An example of this is within the Strength and Conditioning (S&C)
strand of SS. The role requires a practitioner to understand a lot of different
sports, plan programmes, prevent injury and management and finally be able to
take and plan sessions per gender, age, weight, team and individual basis (English
Institute of Sport, 2018). This is a very skilled position and sought out role
within the sports industry. However, despite needing a lot of training,
financial investment and qualifications to become an S&C coach, the role
does not pay well and many of the positions are voluntary. As such, it is very
difficult to get a job that is financially viable.
The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
investigated their members who are in current employment. From 32,000 members,
fewer than 2,600 are employed at college/university level across the United
States of America (SS, 2018). In the UK, the United Kingdom Strength and
Conditioning Association (UKSCA) statistics show that of 47% of all their
members, half hold a Master’s degree or higher. Yet, 22% of these S&C
coaches are voluntary and disappointingly, a further 33% are paid less than
£19,999/year (SS, 2018). A couple of examples highlight this; Head of Sport
Science at Blackpool Football club was advertised with a starting salary of
£12,000 per year (Guru, 2017). From an article on the job, a poll was ran asking
fellow coaches whether UKSCA should have refused to advertise the job. Out of
380 respondents, 93% voted yes (Guru, 2017). The reason for such a majority
vote is because the advertised year’s salary would have barely covered a year
at HE and completing UKSCA accreditation training (Guru, 2017).
In another similar scenario, the Rochdale football club in
May 2017 advertised an Academy Sport Scientist (part time) on a salary of
£9,000, again requesting that candidates have a degree, relevant experience and
UKSCA accreditation (Rochdaleafc.co.uk, 2017). Just today (as posting this article), the Irish Ruby
Football Union (I.R.F.U) posted the following images and link on their twitter
feed offering a unpaid internship for sports science role.
Original Twitter
Link: https://www.trendsmap.com/twitter/tweet/987383807287455744
Shane Stapleton (author of original tweet) summed it
well with "Very disappointing that IRFU are looking for *unpaid*
40-hours-per-week, 6-month intern for a job that requires college
qualification. I note recent Examiner piece showing IRFU will receive two
cheques worth €300,000 from organisers EPCR for Munster and Leinster winning
ECC qfs" . Pictures below note the advertised job (will have to
zoom in or click and enlarge the images).
What made me shake my head was the fact they had the cheek
to ask for someone to work 40 hours a week unpaid but have a degree and maybe
have a MSc or PhD..........
Where was the logic in writing this advertisement. Then in
Irish Rugby again, Connacht advertised a position for a Intern Performance
Nutritionist 25-30 hours per week. UNPAID! How can someone justify a
position at a senior level sports team for both IRFU and Connacht to be working
30-40 hours a week for 6 months for no money. Needing a degree, further
postgraduate education and high skill sets in an array of modalities
to carry out an effective job. Makes the field look so stupid.
In the midst of all these
employment inconsistencies, a new initiative by the government is striving for
2 year degrees. The rationale for this is to reduce student costs in the long
term (BBC News, 2017). Yet what they fail to realise, is that degrees are 3 to
4 years duration to gain as much experience as possible to develop key skills
for employment. Reducing the time spent learning will de-skill the workforce thus
reducing the quality of the service provided. The Guardian newspaper even
discussed how this devalues education and is now turning universities into
profit machines rather than centres for learning and excellence (McDuff, 2017).
Other Graduate Jobs for
Sports Science Students
Despite this, many people go into SS with the vision to
work with elite sport, but end up disappointed. Teaching PE/Sport Science is usually one of these
avenues many students end up doing. This is not being detrimental to PE as a field. Many go into it and become excellent teachers, providing an excellent experience to their students. One of the reasons why I am doing a a teaching degree is so I can land myself job security in a field with little stability. I never came to university wanting to teach but now I want to do it.
The issue arises when graduates
realise that there are so few jobs, they end up looking for alternative jobs or further study. From
the 10,165 SS graduates in 2016/17, nearly 2,000 of them went straight back
into education either to do a MSc (47.7%) or a PGCE (31.5%) (Appendix 1.0) (HESCU,
2017). This highlights the point that a SS degree is not enough anymore to get
a job. You have to attain more qualifications to beat the rest of the
competition to ensure you are successful in the employability market of SS. This
can be backed up by Appendix 7.0 which shows the more you learn (and higher
level of education you attain), you expect a higher hourly wage. However, there
has to be jobs available first for this to be true.
Regardless of how this may seem, there are good prospects
for sports students if they were to shift their focus elsewhere from teaching
and elite level sport jobs. This is a factor that the THE 2016 article failed
to address and make students aware of (THE, 2016). There is an understaffed
sector needing the skill set which SS graduates have, and that is within the
Public Health realm (Gov.uk, 2018). Public Health covers the following jobs; Dietician
(NCS, 2018b), Mental Health support worker (Health Careers, 2018), Sports
Development Officer (NCS, 2018k), Drug and Alcohol Worker (NCS, 2018c), Data
Analyst (NCS, 2018a) and Physical Activity Coordinator (Jobhero.com, 2018). The
reason for these roles not being filled comes down to two main themes; (1) SS
is taught and marketed towards the elite and competitive side of sport, meaning
that general health, fitness and participation is ignored. (2) Health and
Social Care courses alongside business/managerial degrees, do not have many
people with the academic and practical skillset compared to someone with a SS
degree.
With this being the case, these jobs and students should be
steered towards each other. A bonus of these facilities is that many of them
offer in-house free CPPD training (CGl, 2018b). Change Grow Living (CGL)
provide their staff with in-house training for Naloxone administration (Appendix 8.0) which can save lives of those overdosing from opiates (2018c). An example
of this would be working for Public Health England (Gov.uk, 2018) or Change
Grow Living (CGL) (CGL, 2018a). CGL and Public Health England push for the
promotion of exercise as a form of prescription and rehabilitation based upon
the National Institute for Health Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for their
clients (Nice.org.uk, 2014). This year in the Guardian newspaper (Pozniak, 2018), it is discussed and
suggested that exercise prescription is the way forward to combat this
country’s declining health.
How is SS Tackling
Public Health?
Dr Dale Esliger of Loughborough University, advocating for
the new MSc in Exercise as Medicine, talks about what his students would be
doing on this course; “Students won’t be
attending elite athletes beside the pitch, but rather looking at “prescribing”
exercise to the wider population, investigating the value of techniques such as
mindfulness, and researching how to deploy digital tools to motivate people to
exercise more. As a nation, we’re behind the likes of Australia in formalising
exercise advice within the health service. In the future we hope to see more
exercise professionals within the NHS. If we want clinicians to write exercise
rather than drug prescriptions, we need to give them the knowledge to do that” (Pozniak, 2018).
It is not just Loughborough University who have highlighted
this issue. Dr Kim Edwards of Nottingham University has shared her thoughts on
the matter as well; “There’s room in
the NHS for new roles, such as exercise instructors, that don’t
currently exist. However, though, it can feel poor in relation to the glamour
of treating soccer players by the pitch” (Pozniak, 2018).
United Kingdom’s Health
Crisis
These courses are emerging at universities due to some of
the major health issues facing the UK population; obesity (Ryan, 2018), heart
disease (Matthews-King, 2017) and mental health (Campbell, 2017). This is not
just a UK problem but a western civilisation issue. To borrow a phrase from the
film director Chris Bell; “Is there
really a war on drugs or are we a nation of prescription thugs?” (Youtube,
2016). This is referring to our culture seeking quick fixes rather than
lifestyle changes for a better quality of life, for example, take a few pills
to reduce your blood pressure rather than exercise. It is no coincidence that
with a reduction of PE in schools that obesity and mental health issues have
risen in school, college and university students (Rumsby, 2015;
Youthsporttrust.org, 2018).
Right now in the UK, there are 20 million adults, 39% of
total population, who are inactive (as of a report by the British Heart
Foundation) (BHF.org.uk, 2017). By simply increasing activity levels, obesity,
heart disease and mental health issues would be immensely countered. As
mentioned previously, this is mainly in the North of England (Appendix 9.0). Performing
exercise (or physical activity) greatly improves mental health and wellbeing as
evidenced by the Scottish Student Sport Research Report of 5000 students at HE
institutions compared to those that are not engaging with exercise or physical
activity (Precor.com, 2017) (Appendix 10.0).
Example Avenues of Work
for SS Graduates
Alternative placements/jobs within Public Health instead of
the standard coaching and SS roles include; Special population work (disabled,
special needs, ethnic groups etc.), training those with dual diagnosis (drug
and alcohol related issues), working in a needle exchange, providing exercise
advice to those who maybe using substances. Finally, exercise referral service
for those with mental or physical issues.
Summary
To conclude, the studied article THE, 2016, does not
portray an accurate representation of what SS is for the aspiring student.
However, it is not all doom and gloom for those who want to get into elite
sport. Just because the field is oversaturated does not mean you cannot
succeed. It simply means it may take longer, be more frustrating and require
higher (and additional) qualifications. Especially as the population increases,
more students will have access to university (Appendices 4.0 – 5.0) combined
with the popularity of sport growing. This may end up being more expensive in
the long run to get a job that you really want, especially as the popularity of
the field is not dying off anytime soon. If you have a passion for elite sport
and that is all you want to do, then no one can stop a student from achieving
their dream.
They should, however, be given a more honest review of the
job market and subject prospects, as well as real opinions from students,
tutors and employers so they can make their own decision. Another contributing
factor is the experience at university, facilitates offered, effort put in by
students, quality of the department and support of the tutors per module. These
factors play a huge role in the end result of a student’s degree and definitely
can impact on employability prospects.
All potential students, current scholars and recent
graduates should take a step back and look at their interest and subject from a
different perspective. They will realise there are more work opportunities for
them within the Public Health sector as identified in this report. These jobs
can provide a good income, reasonable hours, CPPD opportunities, progression
through a company and most importantly, work that is going to be impactful on
the local community and the nation itself. If more SS graduates took up roles
within Public Health, it would benefit local communities and the nation
greatly. This is evidenced by Sport England research whereby promoting sport,
reduces youths at risk of criminal behaviour and reoffending and lowers costs on
health care per person between £1,750 and £6,900 (Sportengland.org.uk, 2010)
annually.
Now I wish I had more time as I would like to go into the flaws and faults of;
- UKSCA
- PT qualifications
- Sports Therapy
- Course Content at Universities
But due to deadlines and other commitments I am unable to do so.
I hope you all enjoyed that and gives some light into what is happening within SS and the fitness industry.
Please share, like and subscribe to the page for more posts.
Thank you very much for reading
Kind regards
Andrew
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Appendices
1. Graduate Sport Science data: HESCU, (2018) Page 46 (see reference list).
2. University Applications Rising: Coughlan. S. (2017) (see reference list)
3. Are Poorer Students less likely to go to University: Coughlan. S. (2017) (see reference list)
4. Employment in sport - Statistics Explained - European Commission (Ec.europa.eu, 2018a, see reference list)
5. Employment in sport - Statistics Explained - European Commission (Ec.europa.eu, 2018b, see reference list)
6. Employment in sport - Statistics Explained - European Commission (Ec.europa.eu, 2018b, see reference list)
7. Learn More = Earn More? : Coughlan. S. (2017) (see reference list)
8. Naloxone Kit: Vanmeer, 2017 (see reference list)
9. Inactive Adults across the UK (BHF.org.uk, 2017) (see reference list)
10. Scottish Student Sport Research Report (2016) (Precor.com, 2017) (see reference list)
Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog
I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University.
Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019.
I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.
My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.
My most recent publications:
My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning.
Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering.
I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness.
I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes.
I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships,
in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge.
Contact details below;
Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)
Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness
Twitter: @arichie17
Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting
Snapchat: @andypowerlifter
Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Richardson7
