Knowledge, Competencies, and Skills for a Sustainable Sport Management Growth: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The present systematic review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of sport management relevant knowledge, competencies, and skills analyzing and harmonizing the European skills classification for sport management employment profiles and evidence-based information from the scientific literature in this field. The information search in the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations platform resulted in four main sport management professional profiles, whereas literature searches in SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost), Scopus, and Google Scholar databases resulted in 48 manuscripts meeting the inclusion criteria. The main findings showed a substantial scholars’ interest in deepening the understanding of necessary sport management-related knowledge/competencies/skills from different research perspectives. However, a disconnect between industry demands and students and/or employees’ preparedness and performance emerged, which substantiates the need to systematically update education and training in the sector to foster the sustainable development of this scientific area. Furthermore, in recognizing the centrality of the background, foundational, sport management-related knowledge, the crucial role of competencies and soft skills emerged. The present study not only provided a comprehensive, evidence-based, overview on sport management relevant knowledge/competencies/skills but also proposed a harmonized framework grounded on different relevant clusters that should be considered in developing and implementing educational sustainable programs for sport managers and leaders.

Sports Management Knowledge, Competencies, and Skills: Focus Groups and Women Sports Managers’ Perceptions

“…As an academic discipline, over the past decades, several studies have focused on SM's legitimation and recognition [1,2,[4][5][6], highlighting dominant field-related trends to adjust academic and vocational training. In particular, the definition of the SM foundational, relevant knowledge, necessary competencies, and skills (K/C/S), main features of roles and responsibilities in managing and leading sports organizations, and teaching/learning methodologies represented a priority to enhance the whole sector professionalization, SM graduates' preparedness, and employees' performance [7,8]. Note, the kaleidoscopic nature of the sports phenomenon and its impact on several dimensions of society (e.g., educational, health, recreational, cultural, economic, and policy) requires equipping sports managers with a variety of competencies and skills [7,8].…”

“…In particular, the definition of the SM foundational, relevant knowledge, necessary competencies, and skills (K/C/S), main features of roles and responsibilities in managing and leading sports organizations, and teaching/learning methodologies represented a priority to enhance the whole sector professionalization, SM graduates' preparedness, and employees' performance [7,8]. Note, the kaleidoscopic nature of the sports phenomenon and its impact on several dimensions of society (e.g., educational, health, recreational, cultural, economic, and policy) requires equipping sports managers with a variety of competencies and skills [7,8]. Furthermore, updated and evidence-based educational and vocational programs are crucial to increase SM employees' efficiency in relation to the organizational missions, goals, strategies, structures, stakeholders, and internal and external environments.…”

“…First, sound evidence-based knowledge of essential and complementary SM K/C/S in relation to both higher education and labor market perspectives was established [7,8].…”

“…During this phase, a rigorous literature search and quality assessment of manuscripts published during the past decade (e.g., 2012-2022) and retrieved on three main databases (e.g., EBSCOhost, Scopus, and Google Scholar) was performed, whose outcomes are presented in a systematic literature review on primary research articles [7] and an umbrella review of systematic and narrative review studies [8];…”

“…Second, the collected information has been harmonized to develop a novel comprehensive SM K/C/S framework, including 70 items extracted and harmonized from the included manuscripts in the systematic [7] and umbrella [8] literature reviews and from the ESCO platform (Figure 1 and Appendix A); • Third, a participatory approach collecting the views of senior sports managers and potential end-users was deemed relevant to test the soundness of the proposed SM K/C/S framework; and • Fourth, an exploratory analysis of end-users' perceived relevance, possess, and need for training in relation to the identified K/C/S was envisioned.…”