Michael A. Odio, Shannon Kerwin

Abstract: The concept of the boundaryless career (Arthur, 1994) has been applied to examine how careers unfold in several industries. Unique patterns of career development have been found in industries such as film, construction, and project management where careers commonly involve regularly changing employers (i.e., crossing organizational boundaries). The present study explores the career movements of 492 sports professionals within and across the different sectors of the sport industry with the following goals: (1) to provide descriptive data with regard to job, organizational, and sector changes, (2) to assess the crossing of boundaries between certain sectors in and out of the sport industry, and (3) to explore patterns of movement across careers. The results show organizational tenure in sport is below the national median and that it is common for people working in sport to change sectors, and even leave the sport industry for a time. This supports the notion that boundaryless careers exist in sport and that careers in sport do not always unfold on a linear path, findings that are relevant for human resource managers, educators, and people working in sport.

Citation: Odio, M. A., & Kerwin, S. (2017). Permeability of sport job sectors: An analysis of careers across boundaries. International Journal of Sport Management, 18(3), 330-347.

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