Professional profile of graduates with a degree in physical activity and sports science in Spain

Abstract

The new job opportunities that resulted from the growth of the sports industry, due to the impact of sports on society and the increase of sports practice, along with the concern about the influence of such practice on health, have led experts in this field to demand the professionalization of the sector. Thereby, a regulatory development is being carried out, which, although at the regional level, recognises the professions of sports, determining the official academic titles or professional qualifications required for the professional practice and assigning to each profession its corresponding functional scope. Despite the fact that the affiliation rate of the Professional Association of Graduates in Physical Activity and Sports Science does not exceed 15% of the university graduates in Spain, such rate has increased in the last years. As an example, in Andalusia, the number of members has doubled in the last four years. This increase in affiliation may be a reflection of the professionalization process that the sports sector has been experiencing. The aim of this study was to determine the professional profile of graduates with a university degree in Physical Activity and Sports Science. As the main results, there continues to be a higher percentage of men who opt to take these courses, most of them have complementary training/education and there is a high percentage of multiple employment, that is, they combine more than one job, although teaching is still the most popular profession of choice. However, the percentage of graduates who choose teaching as a career is decreasing, which could be due to the diversification of the sector and of the sports professions.