Dr. Hab., Associate Professor N.G. Zakrevskaya¹
PhD, Associate Professor G.A. Androsova¹
PhD, Associate Professor E.Ya. Mikhailova¹
A.N. Shchennikov^1
1Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health, St. Petersburg

Keywords: physical education and sports, employment, labor market demand, physical education and sport specialists, physical education and sports university graduate, professional mobility, higher education institution.

Background. The current national physical education and sports system gives a special priority to the market demand for the physical education and sports university graduates in different physical education and sports service domains. The graduates' employment statistics are indicative of the educational institution service quality on the whole and give answers to the following questions in particular: what physical education and sports specialties are in special demand on the physical education and sports service market; what specialists are less demanded; and what response policies need to be taken to improve the physical education and sports university service to meet the market demand. Such statistics should be available on a timely basis for the physical education and sports specialist training system to be sensitive to the labor market. This data flow will enable the students and graduates to adjust their individual educational trajectories and progress agendas including the advanced and special vocational education options.   

Objective of the study was to analyze the labor market demand situation and prospects for the university physical education and sports specialists.

Methods and structure of the study. We made, for the purposes of the study, an employment statistics analyses for the physical education and sports university graduates [5]; analyzed the individual professional progress agendas of the physical education and sports university graduates based on a questionnaire survey data; and outlined the ways to improve their employment options.

Results and discussion. As things now stand, university education in 49.00.00 physical education and sports group specialties is offered by 14 physical education and sports universities and more than 100 other universities, with most of them located in the European part of the country and only three physical education and sports universities found in Siberia and the Far East. The obvious need in the eastern federal regions for the high quality physical education and sports university education is underlined by many factors including the still poor coverage of the local population by regular physical education and sports services and the still low supply of accessible physical education and sports facilities. Thus for 2017 the habitually sporting federal population was reported at 36.8% of the total versus 25.5% in the Irkutsk Oblast, 19.3% in Amur Oblast, 22.7% in the Jewish Autonomous Region, and 26.1% in the Altai Republic [4].

The employed-to-unemployed physical education and sports university graduates’ ratio for the first calendar year upon graduation may be used as an objective indicator of the physical education and sports service quality. This ratio, as reported by the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation in its Higher Education Institutions Performance Monitoring Reports, varies from 75% for Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism (Moscow), Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism (Kazan) and some other physical education and sports universities to 55% for Smolensk State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism [1]. These ratios, however, are deemed to be incomplete due to the existing drawbacks in the employment tracking and reporting mechanisms, as argued by the Pension Fund experts. Thus, the foreign undergraduate students from the CIS countries in the Smolensk State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism are reported at 21.3% of the total although they are screened out by the formal statistics. In addition, the formal employment reports often fail to indicate the professional service domain. Therefore, the shortage of accurate employment statistics for the physical education and sports university graduates needs to be offset by the relevant questionnaire survey tools.

The professional employment opportunities for the physical education and sports graduates are further limited by the underdeveloped physical education and sports infrastructure and low wages unappealing for the graduates. The efforts to analyze the labor market demand for the physical education and sports specialists may be facilitated by the questionnaire surveys of the physical education and sports bachelors’/ masters’ professional progress agendas versus the actual market situations and their professional mobility rates. The 2018 questionnaire survey of the physical education and sports university alumni and statistical data analyses made it possible to profile the Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health alumni professional progress options and expectations.

We sampled for the questionnaire survey the full-time (n=379) and part-time (n=137) Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health undergraduate students specialized in 49.03.01 physical education service [2]. The questionnaire survey forms for the both subsamples were somewhat different as dictated by their natural differences. Thus, the 20-30 year-olds accounted for 99.4% and 70.8% of the full-time and part-time subsamples, respectively; with 12.7% and 48.2% of both reported to have secondary vocational or higher education, respectively; and with the relevant differences in the sports qualifications, titles, experiences, marital statuses etc.

The questionnaire survey of the physical education and sports university sample professional progress agendas yielded the following data: see Tables 1, 2. Most of the sample was found willing to make a professional career in the national physical education and sports sector; with 12.7% and 10.9% of full- and part-time subsamples (respectively) reporting some other career expectations: see Table 1. Many students were found still hesitating in their plans, and this share shall be taken into account by the employment statistics optimizing scenarios [3].

Table 1. 2018 Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health alumni responses to the question “Are you going to make career in the physical education and sports sector?” (%)

Probes of the professional agendas on a more specific basis found 36.9% and 12.4% of the full- and part-time subsamples (respectively) going to advance their master education in 49.04.01 physical education and 49.04.03 Sports specialties. We also found 59.9% and 37.5% of the part- and full-time subsamples, respectively, going to work at physical education and sports organization or combine their physical education and sports studies with jobs.

Table 2. 2018 Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health alumni responses to the question “What are your expected positions in the physical education and sports sector?” (%)

Analysis of the above career expectations showed 56% of the sample hoping to serve in coaching positions. At the same time, as demonstrated by Table 3, 73% and 49.3% of the full- and part-time subsamples are already employed in the physical education and sports sector, with 46.0% and 41.6% (respectively) holding coaching positions. It should be emphasized that upon graduation these numbers will likely to grow.

Table 3. 2018 Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health alumni responses to the question “If you work in the physical education and sports sector, what is your position at present?” (%)

On the whole, the questionnaire survey data may be interpreted as indicative of the sample being strongly motivated for the professional coaching service in the university education period, in agreement with the objectives set forth by the National Physical Education and Sports Sector Progress Strategy for the period up to 2020.

Conclusion. The physical education and sports specialist employment profiling and facilitation studies shall be designed based on a theoretically sound high-quality data flows and labor market monitoring system with a comprehensive market demand forecast capacity for every physical education and sports specialty, with due account of the regional specifics. A special priority shall be given to the professional determination and agenda forming efforts to provide effective vocational guidance and facilitate the professional identification of the uncertain part of the students to facilitate their employment. The existing cross-sector volatility of the physical education and sports specialists may be scaled down by additional target professional training services including professional retraining courses for the former sport elite willing to progress in other knowledge fields. As a result, the national physical education and sports sector will be fully stuffed by the highly motivated and knowledgeable specialists with healthy value systems, priorities and professional agendas.

References

1. Information and analytical materials on the results of monitoring of effectiveness of educational institutions of higher education. [Electronic resource]. Available at: http://indicators.miccedu.ru/monitoring%20/2018/_vpo/inst.php?id=1755 (date of access: 06.02.2020).
2. Key directions of professional mobility in physical education and sport sector]. SPORT kompleks. 2018. No.3 (11). pp. 27-32.
3. Mikhaylova E.Ya., Utisheva E.V., Zakrevskaya N.G. Social conceptions of physical education and sport professions: stratification approach. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury. 2019. No. 7. pp. 3-4.
4. Reports on the implementation of the state program of the Russian Federation “Development of physical education and sports” [Electronic resource]. Available at: https: // www.minsport.gov.ru/activities/reports/9/32033/. https://www.minsport.gov.ru/activities/reports/9/32033/ (date of access: 06.02.2020).
5. Consolidated report on the form of federal statistical observation No. 1-FC “Information on physical education and sports” for 2018 [Electronic resource]. Available at: https://www.minsport.gov.ru/sport/physical-culture/statisticheskaya-inf/ (date of access: 06.02.2020).

Corresponding author: yanverovna@yandex.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyze the labor market demand situation and prospects for the university physical education and sports specialists.

Methods and structure of the study. We made, for the purposes of the study, an employment statistics analyses for the physical education and sports university graduates [5]; analyzed the individual professional progress agendas of the physical education and sports university graduates based on a questionnaire survey data; and outlined the ways to improve their employment options.

Results and conclusions. The physical education and sports specialist employment profiling and facilitation studies shall be designed based on a theoretically sound high-quality data flows and labor market monitoring system with a comprehensive market demand forecast capacity for every physical education and sports specialty, with due account of the regional specifics. A special priority shall be given to the professional determination and agenda forming efforts to provide effective vocational guidance and facilitate the professional identification of the uncertain part of the students to facilitate their employment. The existing cross-sector volatility of the physical education and sports specialists may be scaled down by additional target professional training services including professional retraining courses for the former sport elite willing to progress in other knowledge fields. As a result, the national physical education and sports sector will be fully stuffed by the highly motivated and knowledgeable specialists with healthy value systems, priorities and professional agendas.