The impact of engagement in sport on graduate employability: implications for higher education policy and practice

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the impact of engagement in sport on graduate employability using a triangulation of views from three key stakeholder groups. Primary research was conducted with 5838 graduates, 112 employers and 13 university senior executives as part of a mixed-methods approach. The research found that engagement in sport was viewed as a sound investment from the perspectives of all three groups, with examples highlighting how sport provided ‘added value’ beyond subject-specific qualifications. This finding was particularly prominent where graduates demonstrated experience of voluntary roles through the leadership and management of sport and could articulate how this had a positive impact on the development of additional employability attributes. We argue that there are important implications for higher education policy, sports policy, universities, employers and students. For students, employability can be enhanced through participation and volunteering in sport, which is shown to be a good investment in terms of both skill development and future earnings. For employers, when recruiting graduates, a history of sport participation (inclusive of voluntary experience) may be a good indicator of candidates with desirable traits for employment. For universities, meeting their customers’ demand for sport with sufficient supply through strategic investment is an important consideration of their offer.

KEYWORDS:

• Sport
• graduates
• higher education
• employability
• employment
• recruitment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kerry Griffiths

Kerry Griffiths is a Research Fellow at the Sport Industry Research Centre, based at Sheffield Hallam University. Kerry has a background in the Sociology of Sport and Leisure and her particular areas of research interest include understanding participation in sport, including barriers to participation and participation in minority groups, particularly women and girls; the outcomes of sport, including the physical and the social outcomes; and the health and fitness industry, including new trends in fitness practices.

Steve Bullough

Steve Bullough is a Senior Research Fellow at the Sport Industry Research Centre, based at Sheffield Hallam University. He predominantly works on research projects with a focus on sport economics, participation and school sport for national organisations such as Sport England and UK Sport. His research interests focus on sports participation, elite football and elite cricket.

Simon Shibli

Simon Shibli is a Professor of Sport Management at Sheffield Hallam University, where he is also the Head of the Sport Industry Research Centre. He is a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualified accountant whose specialist areas of interest are the finance and economics of the sport and leisure industries.

Jayne Wilson

Jayne Wilson is a Principal Research Fellow at the Sport Industry Research Centre, based at Sheffield Hallam University. Jayne specialises in strategy development, marketing planning, performance management and project evaluation. She has led the development of a number of sport and active recreation strategies for local authority partners.