Sports psychology in the English Premier League: ‘It feels precarious and is precarious’

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.This article gives a rare account of the working life of a sports psychologist in the English Premier League (EPL), the elite division in English professional football. It shows how members of emerging professions such as sports psychology are a new precariat. Martin is more successful than many sports psychologists, but his job security is dependent on his continued ability to navigate managerial change: using his skills as a psychologist in the defence of his own employment but simultaneously keeping the (potentially sensitive) ‘psychology’ label of the work he does hidden until circumstances are propitious

Doing more with less? flexible working practices and the intensification of work

This article examines an unanticipated consequence of adopting flexible working practices - that of work intensification. Based on a study of professional workers and in line with other studies, we present evidence showing that flexible workers record higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment than their non-flexible counterparts. However, we also report evidence of work intensification being experienced by both those who work reduced hours and those who work remotely. We identify three means by which this intensification occurs - imposed intensification, enabled intensification and intensification as an act of reciprocation or exchange. We argue that the apparent paradox of high job satisfaction and organizational commitment, alongside work intensification can be explained by employees trading flexibility for effort. Using social exchange theory we propose that employees respond to the ability to work flexibly by exerting additional effort, in order to return benefit to their employer

Reframing professional development through understanding authentic professional learning

Continuing to learn is universally accepted and expected by professionals and other stakeholders across all professions. However, despite changes in response to research findings about how professionals learn, many professional development practices still focus on delivering content rather than enhancing learning. In exploring reasons for the continuation of didactic practices in professional development, this article critiques the usual conceptualization of professional development through a review of recent literature across professions. An alternative conceptualization is proposed, based on philosophical assumptions congruent with evidence about professional learning from seminal educational research of the past two decades. An argument is presented for a shift in discourse and focus from delivering and evaluating professional development programs to understanding and supporting authentic professional learning

The Experience of Self-Employment Among Young People: An Exploratory Analysis of 28 Low- to Middle-Income Countries

Youth unemployment has become the global “wicked” policy issue for governments and multilateral agencies with many regions experiencing endemically high levels. In response, governments and international organizations have introduced more active labor market interventions to address youth unemployment. Self-employment and entrepreneurship programs are seen as the key mechanisms to reduce unemployment, welfare dependency, and poverty. We use the International Labour Organization’s 2012 School-to-Work Transition Survey from 28 developing countries to provide new evidence of young people’s experience of job quality and associated working conditions in self-employment. We find that self-employment is not necessarily a favorable employment status in terms of the economic and social benefits it provides for young people. In countries often characterized by limited formal employment opportunities, a large informal sector and depressed local labor markets, self-employment can be seen as the only realistic way many young people can generate an income. Entry into self-employment can be more accurately described as a pragmatic coping mechanism by the young person and their family to get by rather than as evidence of entrepreneurship and a pathway to get on in terms of social mobility and poverty alleviation. We find little evidence that young people are making utility-maximizing decisions concerning their employment status. Furthermore, we argue that if youth employment policies overlook the importance and role of kinship networks in the uptake of self-employment, they are likely to be even less effective than other programs to promote entrepreneurship.IL