A Critical Examination of Outcomes for College Graduates Working in the U.S. Spectator Sport Industry
Richard J. Paulsen et al.
What the paper says
The expansion of sport-specific degree programs, such as sport management and sport administration, has been accompanied by a growing interest in the career prospects of graduates. This study investigates how educational preparation influences employment outcomes and wages in sport. Using data from the American Community Survey, we analyze the degree fields, employment patterns, and earnings of spectator sport industry workers. Our findings reveal that many college graduates suffer a wage penalty by working in the spectator sport industry. Additionally, while sport-specific and sport-related degrees may facilitate entry into the industry, sport-specific majors do not receive any wage premium when working in sport. Lastly, graduates from nonsport-specific fields, such as business and communications, are common in the spectator sport industry. The results suggest a mismatch between sport-specific academic preparation and the broader demands of the spectator sport labor market, raising questions about the value of sport-specific degrees. This research offers critical insights for educators, students, and industry stakeholders emphasizing the need to reconsider program alignment to enhance graduate employability and potentially ameliorate wage disparities in the sport industry.
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
| M · momentum | 0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.