PARALYMPIC ATHLETES’ DUAL CAREER PATHWAYS: A GROUNDED THEORY STUDY

Date

2025-1-10

Author

Girişmen, Gizem

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This study explores Paralympic athletes’ DC pathways and experiences through employing a constructivist version of grounded theory. To this end, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten active Paralympic athletes either studying at university, working full-time alongside their sports careers, or combining academic and vocational pursuits. The results of this study reveal that Paralympic athletes’ career development experiences involve individual pathways with linear and interrupted non-linear characteristics, encompassing early and late career construction styles. A phase-based model acknowledging the different phases of DC processes better reflects the diversity of the Paralympic athletes who occasionally extended their careers by incorporating a third career. Based on career sequences and the number of careers pursued, four career development pathways were identified: typical and atypical pathways, with dual and multiple careers. The processes in the para athlete development pathways, the stressors and facilitators related to the disability experience and para sports were the most significant features making Paralympic athletes’ DC experiences unique. The dependence on their support network further complicated DC processes for the athletes with severe impairments and transformed the external support providers into indispensable parts of the DC experience. To manage their dual and multiple careers, Paralympic athletes adopted period and career based strategic planning practices. This study underlines the significance of supporting Paralympic athletes holistically, primarily through emphasizing their individual needs throughout their DC and MC pathways.

Subject Keywords

dual career in sports, student-athlete, para sports, Paralympic athletes, disability

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/113456

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis