天美传媒

A new study shows the need for a better work-life balance in the sports industry to encourage a healthier work environment, prevent job burnout, and build a more diverse workforce.

Assistant Professor of Sport Leadership and Administration Allison Smith co-authored the study, 鈥�,鈥� with Jeff Graham, associate professor of Sport Management at the University of Tennessee Knoxville for a special work-life balance issue of the Journal of Athletic Training, the National Trainers鈥� Association scientific journal.

The study examined peer-reviewed journal articles between 2011 and 2020 which provided a look into the challenges that athletic trainers, coaches, athletes, and general athletic industry employees face and strategies to combat those challenges going forward. According to Smith, the sport industry is one of the few industries that demands employees always be on-call and prioritize their professional lives over their personal lives, leading to a non-existent work-life balance.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e expected to work nights and weekends without any ifs, ands, or buts,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淎 coach could get a text from an athlete at midnight about an issue and they鈥檙e expected to respond.

鈥淲e know from the last two years in the pandemic, that if an individual doesn鈥檛 feel like their workplace is giving them the ability to work from home or telecommute or have time off, they鈥檙e just going to leave,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he turnover in athletics and professional sport is very high because organizations are not actually making a lot of huge strides in accommodations.鈥�

Of the major findings from this study, Smith emphasizes the need for organizations to introduce industry-wide policy changes instead of putting ownership solely on the individual. To keep people in the workforce, organizations need to set clearer expectations for policies such as maternity and paternity leave and allow family members to attend games, which more cutting-edge organizations are doing.

鈥淎 lot of organizations are still saying, 鈥榥o kids, no partners, and no spouses at work.鈥� Your work and your life need to be separate. We have found in our previous research that there鈥檚 a lot of tension with that,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e a coach and you鈥檙e on call and you鈥檙e missing your kids, it鈥檚 really difficult to also be told you can鈥檛 bring your kids to a game. Why not?鈥�

While smaller recommendations are given to individuals to help balance their personal and professional lives, it鈥檚 going to take an overall policy shift to also make sure the industry is equitable for everyone, including women and marginalized individuals who are particularly affected in ways that other aren鈥檛, Smith said.

鈥淔or women or racialized or marginalized individuals, there are so many other factors in their lives that they鈥檙e wrestling with,鈥� Smith said.

These factors impact the ability to work in an industry that has been predominantly led by white men. Smith, a former collegiate athlete, worked in 天美传媒 athletics at the beginning of her career, which gave her an inside look at what happens in the industry and made her passionate about changing the system for all individuals.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you the number of women I鈥檝e interviewed over the years that have told me 鈥楢s soon as I start having a family, I鈥檓 just going to leave the industry,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淎nd I know for marginalized individuals, not just women but men as well, from different ethnic and racial backgrounds, they鈥檙e not seeing themselves at the top so I think it can be really discouraging to not see those examples and role models.鈥�

As a professor in the College of Education and Human Development, Smith describes sport as an element of health and says the issues that teams, players, or sports organizations talk about mirror issues in the greater world.

鈥淥ne of the reasons I came to UMass Boston was the mission and how we talk about trying to create an anti-racist institution that鈥檚 health promoting,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f I can create change in the sport industry, it feels like I鈥檓 also being reflective of the mission and vision of our institution. We鈥檙e lucky to be at such a diverse place with so many different people, whether that鈥檚 staff, faculty, or students.鈥�

Smith said there鈥檚 a disconnect in the sport industry between who does the labor and who makes the decisions, which demonstrates the need for more diverse leadership at the top. Her research advocates for organizations in the sport industry to start seeing the value of a diverse workforce.

鈥淲hen we have people with multiple identities and backgrounds and histories, we can have a really collaborative and innovative approach to how we run an organization,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I really want to connect; how can we get the sport industry to be similar to our mission here at UMass Boston.鈥�