Career Transitions and Change

Over the last decade, the athlete’s career transition literature has shifted from a deterministic (or linear) to a probabilistic (nonlinear) perspective. Athletes’ careers can be perceived as a roller coaster ride, shaped by transitions (i.e., normative, nonnormative, quasi-normative, dual career, cultural, crisis), a change-event, appraisals, decision-making, coping, and environmental influences. Athletes can enjoy a fruitful and meaningful career as long as they positively adapt to the various transitional periods and changes encountered, potentially creating multiple career pathways. Furthermore, research has expanded to additional sport performers, including coaches and referees. Finally, the lives of sport performers have tremendously changed in the past decade as a result of the globalization process, social media, and migration, requiring career researchers to modify existing conceptualizations. This chapter, therefore, provides a critical examination of the recent developments in the career transition and change literature, mainly focusing on critical questions to be asked and a prospective view of this field.