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Purpose: This study investigated (1) the transition rate of elite world-class throwers, (2) the age of peak performance in either elite junior and/or elite senior athletes, and (3) if relative age effect (RAE) influences the chance of being considered elite in junior and/or senior category. Methods: The career performance trajectories of 5108 throwers (49.9% females) were extracted from the World Athletics database. The authors identified throwers who had reached the elite level (operationally defined as the World all-time top 50 ranked for each age category) in either junior and/or senior category and calculated the junior-to-senior transition rate. The age of peak performance and the RAE were also investigated. Results: The transition rate at 16 and 18 years of age was 6% and 12% in males and 16% and 24% in females, respectively. Furthermore, elite senior throwers reached their personal best later in life than elite junior throwers. The athletes of both genders considered elite in the junior category showed a large RAE. Interestingly, male athletes who reached the elite level in senior category also showed appreciable RAE. Conclusions: Only a few of the athletes who reach the top 50 in the world at 16 or 18 years of age manage to become elite senior athletes, underlining that success at the beginning of an athletic career does not predict success in the athlete’s senior career. Moreover, data suggest that being relatively older may confer a benefit across the whole career of male throwers.

The purpose of this study was to understand factors that influenced the career trajectories of veteran urban secondary physical education teachers. The careers of these teachers were studied from the theoretical perspectives of teacher efficacy and teacher career development. Participants included 9 secondary urban physical education teachers (4 females and 5 males). Data were collected using 7 qualitative methods. Data analysis involved constant comparison through the processes of open and axial coding followed by a cross-case comparison (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Findings indicated that organizational contexts of these veteran urban physical education teachers played the most salient role in shaping their beliefs and behaviors. Although the organizational contextual factors reported were similar across this group of teachers, individual responses differed greatly. These differences delineated teachers into two groups of stayers: lifers and troupers. Knowledge of workplace conditions’ specific effects on teachers’ career trajectories provides valuable information for initial preparation of novice teachers and for further professional development.

The internship experience is generally recognized for its educational and career-related benefits (Gault, Leach, & Duey, 2010); however, scholars are beginning to question the merit and expected benefits of undergraduate internships in sport management (King, 2009; Schneider & Stier, 2006). Further research has found evidence that the internship experience may negatively influence students’ intent to enter the profession (Cunningham, Sagas, Dixon, Kent, & Turner, 2005). The current study uses a longitudinal approach and qualitative analysis to examine the influence of the internship on students’ career-related decision making. Findings show that the internship plays a major role in shaping students’ career trajectory; however, many students come away more confused about their career path than before their internship. Further findings reveal issues related to intern supervision and the type of learning opportunities available to students.

In this paper I ask how it is that women, despite being a significant part of the workforce in horseracing, are still only a minority of professional jockeys. I explore the relationship between social practices and the gender based inequalities and use Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and habitus to analyze its classed and gendered nature. I draw on an ethnographic study of a racing yard, focusing particularly on the experiences of Anne Dudley, one of my female interviewees, who, unusually, had ridden as a jockey. She typifies the ways in which women’s career trajectories within the racing field are shaped by access to physical and social capital. I argue that habitus can be used to illustrate how redirection(s) in practices or ideas are brought about within a patriarchal, masculine field of power.

This study used a sociological career trajectory model to examine the career patterns of 200 male and female NCAA Division I, II, and III athletic directors. A normative career pattern derived from the literature on athletic directors was posited to compare the histories of incumbent NCAA athletic directors (ADs). The actual career experiences of ADs challenged the norm of the posited five-position sequence that begins with collegiate athlete; progresses through high school coach, collegiate coach, and associate or assistant director; and culminates with athletic director. Competing as a collegiate athlete and coaching at the college level were the two most frequent experiences underpinning the AD position. Differences from the posited norms were most likely to be associated with directors of NCAA Division II and III institutions and with women.