A social perspective on sport-related trends and careers

Practices in the sports industry, sports management and the sociological study of sport are seldom integrated to provide an integrated theoretical framework for analysis and contextualization. The aim of this explorative academic enquiry was to develop a social conceptual framework for the analysis, explanation and contextualization of sport-related careers within the sports industry. For this purpose several main theoretical paradigms within the sociology of sport were analyzed. The functional, conflict (Marxist and Marxian), critical (feminism, cultural studies and post modernism) and figurational sociological approaches provided a synthesis of analytical concepts through which societal trends were discussed. Exploring the manifestation and career-oriented trends of the sports industry in terms of the manipulation of sport, institutionalization, professionalization (including scientification and globalization), segmentation and demystification, different career fields were identified. The social phenomenological and figurational analysis focused on the sectors and segments of the sports industry that poses unique challenges for proactive human agency. This analysis presents a multi-level, multi-faceted and inter-disciplinary approach to be utilized for development and application in education and training programmes within the field of sports management and other careers within the sports industry.