Negotiating academic and coaching identities: A case study of occupational socialization of a Japanese university track and field teacher-coach

Abstract

This case study explores how a Japanese university teacher-coach developed an integrated professional identity encompassing teaching, research, and coaching. Drawing on Occupational Socialization Theory (OST), we examined how the participant—an academic faculty member who also serves as head coach of a competitive collegiate track and field team—made sense of and navigated overlapping institutional, cultural, and interpersonal expectations. Using a life-story methodology and three semi-structured interviews, data were analyzed through collaborative qualitative analysis, which emphasized co-interpretation with the participant and a co-author. Findings were presented across OST's three phases: acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization. The participant's early exposure to teacher-coaches shaped relational and pedagogical foundations, while graduate training and institutional engagement enabled a gradual reframing of coaching as an academic practice. This study contributes to OST by illustrating identity integration as a recursive and culturally situated process. Practical implications highlighted how coach developers and institutions can better support multi-role professionals through mentoring, interdisciplinary collaboration, and structural recognition of coaching labor. The case also offers coaching-specific insights into balancing roles, applying research to training, and adapting to institutional demands and provides guidance for university teacher-coaches navigating identity complexity in similar high-performance university settings.

Introduction

Occupational socialization research investigates how professionals develop role-specific identities through interactions across personal history, formal training, and organizational culture.^1,2 This body of work has traditionally focused on single-role professionals such as schoolteachers or sport coaches. However, there is growing interest in multi-role professionals—individuals who must simultaneously navigate responsibilities across disparate domains. ³ Among them, the teacher-coach represents a particularly complex case, blending instructional duties with coaching expectations in educational environments.

Much of the literature on teacher-coaches has focused on primary and secondary school contexts, where teachers also supervise school-based sport teams.^4,5 The dual role offers opportunities for enhanced student rapport and motivation,^4,5 yet it also introduces dilemmas around time, expertise, and workload equity.^6,7 While these studies have provided valuable insights into the benefits and tensions associated with teacher-coaching—particularly in fostering student-athlete development—their school-based focus overlooks the distinctive demands encountered by teacher-coaches in higher education, especially those engaged in high-performance university sports programs.

In university contexts, the teacher-coach model takes on new complexity. Faculty members, particularly in sport science or physical education (PE) departments, are often expected to produce scholarly output and teach multiple courses, and they may also be responsible for coaching collegiate athletic teams. ⁸ These university-based teacher-coaches occupy hybrid roles across curricular and extracurricular domains, often with limited structural support. ⁸ Coaching is typically not formally recognized in workload distribution, performance evaluation, or academic promotions, despite the high visibility and responsibility it entails. ⁸ As a result, the developmental trajectories of university teacher-coaches may diverge significantly from those in primary and secondary education, due to the distinct institutional expectations and professional demands of the higher education setting.

These dynamics are especially pronounced in Japan. While the U.S. NCAA system typically separates coaching from academic positions, Japanese universities frequently assign full-time faculty to coach intercollegiate teams—some of which are nationally prominent. In these institutions, coaching is embedded in a broader educational philosophy emphasizing holistic development and character formation. ⁹ Nevertheless, coaching responsibilities in Japanese higher education are often ambiguously defined within institutional structures—rarely accounted for in workload allocation or career advancement criteria. As a result, university-based teacher-coaches must negotiate competing demands in a cultural setting that simultaneously valorizes gambari (a Japanese term referring to sustained effort and perseverance) and wa (the cultural ideal of interpersonal harmony and group cohesion).^10,11 These values are deeply embedded in Japan's collectivist culture, which prioritizes group cohesion, a sense of duty, and conformity to institutional expectations over individual autonomy. ¹²

Within such a sociocultural context, in many cases, Japanese university teacher-coaches are expected to internalize and prioritize institutional goals—even when doing so compromises personal boundaries or professional specialization. For example, they may be expected to attend daily training sessions, organize competitions, and provide pastoral care for student-athletes, all while fulfilling their responsibilities in teaching and research. Refusing such expectations may be perceived as lacking commitment to the collective, making it difficult to set boundaries or advocate for institutional change. Yet, empirical investigations into how these professionals construct and sustain integrated identities remain scarce.

Recent research has begun to highlight the informal ways in which Japanese teacher-coaches develop professionally—through on-the-job learning, mentoring, and peer dialogue.^13,14 However, these studies have largely addressed high school settings. University faculty-coaches must navigate additional layers of complexity: academic research expectations, teaching responsibiities, administrative service, student supervision, and high-stakes athletic performance. These intersecting pressures create a unique identity formation context that remains poorly understood. Moreover, within this already complex environment, the demands of particular sports may amplify these tensions.

Track and field presents a distinctive and analytically rich case for investigating the multi-role identity of university teacher-coaches. As one of the most widely practiced sports in Japan, it features a large participant base and is deeply embedded in the school-to-university athletic pipeline.^13,14 Outside of semi-professionalized case such as ekiden (long-distance relay racing), track and field is a sport in which full-time faculty commonly serve as coaches. They are often responsible for managing large squads that include both elite athletes—some of whom represent Japan at the international level or continue to train under their university teacher-coach after graduation—and incoming students with limited competitive experience. This wide range of ability levels, coupled with the scale of university teams, adds considerable complexity to the coaching role. Accordingly, track and field offers a representative and strategically significant context for examining how university-based teacher-coaches negotiate occupational socialization and identity integration.

Theoretical framework and purpose

Occupational Socialization Theory (OST)^1,2 provides a robust framework for examining how individuals acquire, negotiate, and sustain professional identities in complex organizational settings, such as Japanese universities. OST conceptualizes socialization as a dynamic process across three interrelated phases: acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization.

Acculturation involves all pre-professional experiences that shape an individual's worldview and motivations for entering a career, such as formative athletic participation and interactions with influential role models. ³ Professional socialization refers to formal education and training—such as teacher education or graduate programs—where individuals acquire domain-specific knowledge, pedagogical approaches, and begin to form a professional identity. ² Organizational socialization denotes the process of adapting to institutional norms, expectations, and power structures after employment, often through on-the-job learning. ¹ Together, these three phases describe a continuous—though non-linear—process through which individuals enter, are trained, and adapt to the professional norms of their workplace. In this study, “professional identity” refers to the evolving process through which the participant made sense of, and integrated, his responsibilities in teaching, research, and coaching. It encompasses not only the roles he occupied, but also how he came to understand and enact them as a coherent professional self.

OST has been widely used to understand the formation of instructional beliefs and practices among PE teachers. ³ However, to our knowledge, no prior studies have applied the OST framework to analyze the professional identity development of university faculty who also serve as sport coaches. These individuals must navigate layered professional demands—including teaching, research, and coaching—within institutional environments that may lack clear support for such multiple roles. In Japan, this complexity is particularly evident in intercollegiate track and field, where full-time faculty are often expected to lead year-round, high-performance teams. These realities raise questions about how OST can account for multi-role identity formation in higher education settings.

Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how a Japanese university teacher-coach developed an integrated professional identity encompassing teaching, research, and coaching while leading a nationally competitive collegiate track and field program. Drawing on OST, we examined how he experienced socialization across the three theoretical phases, with particular attention to how personal experiences, institutional and cultural values shaped his evolving identity. Rather than unfolding in linear sequence, the participant's identity development was marked by recursive negotiation and integration across academic and coaching domains.

Accordingly, this study was guided by the following research question: How do university teacher-coaches in Japan develop an integrated professional identity across teaching, research, and coaching through occupational socialization? By situating this inquiry within the culturally embedded and institutionally complex setting of Japanese higher education, this study sought to (1) extend OST by exploring how university teacher-coaches in non-Western contexts develop integrated professional identities across teaching, research, and coaching, and (2) offer practical insights for supporting university teacher-coaches through institutional policy and professional development initiatives.

Methods

Research design

This study employed a qualitative, single-case design situated within the interpretive paradigm. Drawing on OST,^1,2 we used a life-story approach^15,16 to examine how one university teacher-coach in Japan negotiated a multi-role identity across the domains of teaching, research, and coaching. This method was chosen because of its capacity to illuminate the subjective meaning-making processes that shape professional development over time.

The case was purposefully selected to provide a context-rich, in-depth account of a university teacher-coach in Japan who exemplifies core features of the multi-role academic: holding a doctoral degree in sport science, teaching undergraduate courses, and serving as head coach for a competitive intercollegiate track and field team. While we acknowledge the limitations of single-case research in terms of generalizability, our aim was to generate “information-rich” insights ¹⁷ into how occupational socialization processes manifest in institutions with strong athletic cultures.

The aim was not to generalize but to provide a richly contextualized, theory-driven account of one case that may offer transferability to similar contexts.^18,19 A single case was deemed especially appropriate given the underexplored nature of university teacher-coaches in non-Western higher education and the need to examine how occupational identity is shaped by local organizational and cultural forces.

Participant

The participant, referred to throughout as “the teacher-coach,” was a Japanese male in his early 30s who holds a full-time faculty appointment at a private university in Japan. He was positioned as a lecturer in a department of sport sciences, where his professional responsibilities include teaching undergraduate courses in sport coaching and training theory; conducting applied research in sprint biomechanics and performance; supervising student research projects; and serving as the head coach of the university's men's sprint squad at the time of the study. The university's track and field program was among the most competitive in Japan, regularly producing national-level athletes.

He majored in sport science at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, initially aspiring to become a PE teacher before shifting his focus toward research and coaching through exposure to training science and applied sport performance. During graduate school, he took on assistant coaching roles in sprint events while completing his master's and doctoral degrees. These experiences enabled longitudinal access to the processes of acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational adaptation central to OST. The details of each phase were presented in the Results section.

He was selected using purposive sampling as an exemplar of the teacher-coach role in high-performance university settings, and because of his willingness to contribute reflexively as both participant and co-analyst.

Data collection

Three semi-structured interviews were conducted over an eight-week period, each lasting between 73 and 91 min (Mean time = 82 min). The interviews were conducted in Japanese by the first author, a native speaker, using a guide that was initially developed in English and translated into Japanese following cross-cultural translation protocols. ²⁰ A bilingual last author reviewed the translated guide for conceptual accuracy and linguistic clarity.

Interview questions were developed with reference to key works in OST,^1,2 particularly to align with its three developmental phases: (1) Acculturation (early sport experiences and socialization), (2) Professional Socialization (formal education and training), and (3) Organizational Socialization (adaptation to institutional roles and expectations). Open-ended prompts were used to elicit detailed narratives on how the teacher-coach's biographical trajectory and institutional environment influenced his coaching beliefs and values, and daily practices, such as (a) “Could you share key childhood or adolescent sporting experiences that influenced your decision to pursue coaching?” (b) “How did your university or graduate-level training influence the way you design and implement coaching sessions?” (c) “In what ways have your responsibilities as a university lecturer and coach changed since you first started this position?” Rather than using a fixed question list, the interviews were conducted semi-structurally, with follow-up questions organically emerging through probing and clarification based on the participant's responses.

All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim in Japanese. The first author then translated the transcripts into English to facilitate cross-analysis with the last author. During translation, idiomatic and ambiguous phrases were collaboratively reviewed to preserve the teacher-coach's intent and contextual accuracy. This bilingual interpretive process was designed to enhance validity through source fidelity and intercoder transparency. ²⁰

Data analysis

We used Collaborative Qualitative Analysis (CQA), ²¹ an approach that incorporates multiple analysts to enhance trustworthiness and deepen interpretive validity. While grounded in reflexive thematic analysis, ²² CQA emphasizes team-based reflection, critical dialogue, and multiple coding perspectives. The analysis began with preliminary organization and planning, during which the research team—consisting of the lead author, the participant (the teacher-coach), and the last author specializing in sprint coaching—discussed the scope of analysis, the conceptual underpinnings from OST, and logistical details such as timelines.

Upon availability of the transcripts, open and axial coding were conducted independently by the lead and last authors. They generated preliminary codes based on OST's three phases: acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization. Throughout this phase, the authors maintained reflexive memos to track interpretive decisions and methodological dilemmas. Particular attention was paid to disconfirming evidence that challenged the teacher-coach's self-narrative, thereby mitigating the risk of biased or overly confirmatory interpretations.

The lead author compiled a preliminary codebook by synthesizing recurring codes, defining each category, and linking them to illustrative quotations. This draft was reviewed collaboratively: the teacher-coach assessed the alignment between codes and lived practice, and the last author evaluated thematic consistency with empirical literature. The codebook was then pilot tested against previously uncoded transcripts, revealing areas for refinement, such as inconsistent application or vague definitions. All discrepancies were logged in a shared journal and resolved through debriefing sessions.

After consensus was reached on the finalized codebook, the team proceeded with split coding of the remaining data, followed by cross-checking for accuracy and thematic coherence. We applied the constant comparative method, ²³ continually evaluating new codes in relation to earlier ones to test the stability of emerging categories.

Once all transcripts were fully coded, the research team reviewed the data holistically and consolidated related codes into overarching themes aligned with OST. Special care was taken to resolve ambiguities where segments overlapped multiple OST phases (e.g. late-stage graduate assistantships), with rationale for classification discussed explicitly. The teacher-coach provided validation on the thematic structure's authenticity to his lived experience, while the last author contributed a theoretical critique grounded in university-level sprint coaching. This process yielded several central organizing concepts that illuminated how the teacher-coach negotiated evolving professional roles, institutional demands, and cultural expectations within the Japanese higher education context.

To bolster the study's trustworthiness, we implemented researcher triangulation, peer debriefing, and maintained an audit trail of analytic decisions. ¹⁷ We also actively sought out discrepant evidence to avoid over-reliance on dominant narratives. Given the single-case design, we addressed transferability through thick description of the teacher-coach's institutional setting and professional trajectory, allowing readers to assess the potential applicability of findings to other teacher-coach contexts.

Ethical considerations

This study received ethical approval from the lead author's institution (IRB: K2024-011S). The teacher-coach provided written informed consent and reviewed all data used in the final manuscript. Initially, he expressed a preference to be named, but the team opted for partial anonymity to mitigate reputational risk while still acknowledging his intellectual contributions.

Due to his substantial intellectual and analytic contributions, the teacher-coach was included as a co-author in accordance with internationally recognized authorship criteria. ²⁴ His involvement extended beyond data provision to include interpretive analysis and thematic refinement. This participatory approach aligns with reflexive and collaborative traditions in qualitative inquiry, ¹⁹ emphasizing transparency, epistemic humility, and shared knowledge construction. By integrating the teacher-coach's insider perspective while safeguarding against potential biases, the research team sought to balance ethical responsibility with methodological rigor.

Results

Three overarching themes were constructed from the participant's narrative, corresponding to the three stages of OST: acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization. These phases collectively illustrated how the teacher-coach reported gradually constructing his identity as a coach and academic over time.

Theme 1:

Acculturation—Early Athletic and Coaching Experiences

According to the teacher-coach, his early athletic experiences—shaped by multisport engagement, family encouragement, and interactions with teacher-coaches—played a pivotal role in shaping his athletic identity and laying the groundwork for what would later become an interest in coaching. Although the teacher-coach reported that he did not initially view coaching as a viable career, these early encounters introduced him to structured training, athlete autonomy, and the broader educational influence of teacher-coaches.

The teacher-coach recalled that, as a child, he participated in swimming, soccer, and baseball. He noted that his family encouraged broad athletic exploration, allowing him to develop diverse motor skills and a positive relationship with physical activity. A defining moment occurred when his sprint speed was recognized by others:

When I started playing soccer, people said, ‘You’re fast now—try a track meet!’ That's when I realized, ‘I’m kind of quick.’

Although he did not immediately associate this recognition with future ambitions, he recalled that his involvement in junior high and high school track programs exposed him to teacher-coaches who blended classroom instruction with athletic mentorship. One particularly influential moment came when his homeroom teacher—also the track coach—encouraged him to join the team:

I was torn between soccer and track, but my homeroom teacher was the track coach. He encouraged me, so I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll join track.’

However, the teacher-coach explained that his decision was shaped by multiple factors beyond the teacher's recommendation. As a child, he had competed in local track meets despite not being part of a track and field club, and had received positive feedback on his sprint performance. Although he considered joining the soccer team, he felt that his running ability gave him a competitive edge in track. He recalled struggling to keep up with larger competitors in the sixth grade, but believed that with physical growth in junior high, he could perform better in sprinting. These reflections, combined with his teacher's encouragement, were described by the teacher-coach ultimately leading him to choose track and field over soccer.

His early experiences with coaches exposed him to contrasting pedagogical models. In middle school, he encountered a coach who emphasized technical refinement and self-awareness. In high school, by contrast, a throws coach gave him greater autonomy, allowing him to experiment with sprint and jump drills on his own:

He was actually a throws specialist, but he just said, ‘why don’t you try out the sprint and jump training yourself?’ and gave me freedom to plan my training. I could make decisions about how to train, and that sense of trust and independence made it fun.

The teacher-coach described how these differing coaching styles helped him develop a nuanced view of coaching—one that values both structured instruction and athlete autonomy. He indicated that this early exposure would later shape his conception of what effective coaching could look like.

A key milestone in his development came when he qualified for the national high school championships. Though he did not reach the final rounds, the experience validated his sense of belonging in track and field and sparked an initial interest in staying connected to the field:

I didn’t win, but just being at nationals made me think—maybe I can stay in this field somehow.

While he was not yet envisioning a career in coaching, the teacher-coach reported that this experience marked the first time he considered track and field as more than a temporary pursuit. He shared that competing at the national level gave him a sense of legitimacy and opened his thinking to the possibility of contributing to track and field in a different capacity—even if he had not yet defined what that role might be.

At this stage, however, the teacher-coach noted that coaching still seemed distant and reserved for an elite few. While he considered careers such as firefighting or physical education, coaching remained abstract and aspirational:

Part of me thought, ‘Being a PE teacher might be nice,’ because my teacher-coaches were so supportive. But back then, coaching was still something I saw as only for a select group of people—like an elite job, not something I’d ever do.

Theme 2:

Professional Socialization—Academic and Career Development

The teacher-coach reported that his university education marked a pivotal shift in his professional trajectory—from aspiring PE teacher to sport scientist, and eventually, coach. He explained that his initial goal was to become a school-based PE teacher, shaped by his own positive experiences with teacher-coaches in middle and high school. However, upon entering university, he began to question his suitability for teaching, particularly due to what he perceived as the emotional and interpersonal demands associated with the role:

I wasn’t sure if I could handle the interpersonal demands of teaching so many students every day. I felt like I’d get worn out from constantly talking and managing classes, so I even thought maybe working in a regular company—like in an office—would suit me better.

Although he had admired his own teacher-coaches, he noted that embodying that role himself might be more emotionally demanding than he had initially expected.

Feeling uncertain about a teaching career, the teacher-coach recalled being increasingly drawn instead to the clarity and structure of academic study. He explained that this uncertainty gradually gave way to curiosity, and eventually passion, as he encountered scientific coursework in training methodologies and nutrition. According to the teacher-coach, these courses ignited a new interest in the mechanisms of athletic performance and inspired him to pursue self-directed study. He reflected:

It surprised me how fascinating I found training science. Understanding how the body adapts to exercise—that was new and exciting. I started to think, ‘studying like this can be fun.’

He recalled that, as he continued exploring his academic interests, he began attending seminars and reading academic literature—activities he perceived as relatively uncommon among his peers at the time. These experiences deepened his engagement with sport science and gradually led him to consider graduate study as a viable next step. At the time, he stated that he did not have a clear vision for his future career and still considered various paths, including teaching or corporate employment. However, he noted that the intellectual stimulation of coursework in training methodologies and nutrition, along with informal encouragement from a faculty member who recognized his academic potential, made graduate study appear both appealing and attainable. Rather than a deliberate step toward coaching, it was a way to continue exploring sport science while keeping his options open.

Despite what he described as growing academic momentum, the teacher-coach remained open to multiple career paths. He mentioned that seeing classmates pursue roles in business and the broader sports industry reminded him that coaching was not the only option:

I knew I liked sport, but I didn’t think coaching was for me. My friends were looking into different careers—some were going into business, and I thought maybe I should, too.

According to the teacher-coach, his perspective shifted significantly during his senior year, when he attended a national sprint symposium. There, he recalled witnessing elite coaches apply biomechanical data to sprint training—an experience that, he explained, reshaped his conception of coaching as something analytical and evidence-based rather than purely intuitive:

Seeing top coaches use data changed my perspective on coaching completely. I realized research and coaching could be connected in ways I hadn’t considered before.

He reported that this integration of science and practice deepened during graduate school. His master's thesis on muscle–tendon stiffness and sprint acceleration allowed him to explore performance enhancement through research. Nonetheless, he noted that he remained reluctant to fully identify as a coach:

Even toward the end of my master's, I still believed coaching was for special people, not me. I saw myself more on the academic track.

He described how, through his doctoral studies, however, the boundary between research and practice began to blur. He reported becoming more engaged in daily coaching operations, taking detailed notes on training routines, and began informally assisting as a coach. He described this period as one of quiet preparation—gathering observational insights and sharpening his ability to analyze athlete movement:

I tried to secretly observe what was going on … I was sharpening my eye for coaching, even though I wasn’t fully committed yet.

This gradual shift—fueled by faculty mentorship and immersive observation—suggests a key feature of professional socialization: the redefinition of one's occupational identity through both formal training and informal, practice-based experiences. While coaching remained conceptually distinct from his academic identity early in his career, this phase marked the beginning of their convergence.

Theme 3:

Organizational Socialization—Adapting to University Coaching

The teacher-coach described the final phase of his occupational socialization as unfolding during his transition into a full-time faculty position, where he balanced multiple institutional roles. He reported that upon joining his alma mater, he was immediately tasked with teaching undergraduate courses, conducting research, and leading a large and competitive men's sprint squad. He characterized this multifaceted environment as demanding a high level of coordination and adaptability:

We have about 100 sprinters, plus jumps, throws, mid- and long-distance … traveling almost every weekend. I was constantly shifting between research meetings, lectures, and training sessions.

He contrasted this with his earlier academic experiences, noting that his new role demanded constant navigation of overlapping responsibilities in teaching, research, and coaching. According to the teacher-coach, a key factor that shaped his adjustment was the university's explicit institutional and athletic culture which he viewed as strongly emphasizing gambari—a culturally embedded value in Japan associated with perseverance, sustained effort, and resilience in the face of challenges. He noted that one of the university's core guiding principles emphasized overcoming adversity and continuing to strive without giving up—a message frequently summarized in the slogan “never give up,” which he recalled encountering in orientations, faculty meetings, and team gatherings. As he reflected:

Around here, we’re constantly told not to give up—‘never give up’ is everywhere. You commit fully and keep going, no matter how tough things get. That mindset applied to both research and coaching, and it shaped how I approached my work.

He emphasized that support from colleagues and mentors played a crucial role in helping him navigate these overlapping roles. He described drawing on peer feedback and institutional knowledge as important in refining his coaching beliefs and values. He identified the integration of his research into coaching practice as a key development in this phase:

I started applying research findings directly to training, and when my athletes saw improvements, they bought into it completely.

He described this organizational phase marked a pivotal redefinition of his professional identity. He noted that coaching was no longer treated as a separate or competing obligation, but instead became increasingly integrated into his broader academic role. He reported that, over time, he began to view coaching and academic work as mutually enriching:

I’ve started to see how coaching and research can feed into each other—when training goes well, I can draw insights for my writing, and sometimes things I study academically give me ideas for practice.

He described this stage of organizational socialization as involving not only the internalization of institutional norms and role expectations, but also an active redefinition of what it meant to be a faculty member. Overall, his account illustrates how academic and coaching roles, rather than existing in tension, can become mutually reinforcing through reflective adaptation and institutional engagement with institutional structures.

Discussion

This study examined how a Japanese university teacher-coach developed an integrated professional identity across teaching, research, and coaching through the three phases of occupational socialization: acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization. Using a narrative case study, two central findings emerged from the participant's account. First, although he did not initially view coaching as a career goal, early experiences with contrasting teacher-coach styles fostered a foundational understanding of coaching as both structured and autonomy-supportive—perspectives that he later reported as informing his identity development. Second, he described how, through graduate training, mentorship, and immersive institutional practice, coaching evolved from a peripheral obligation into an integrated dimension of his academic identity.

These findings contribute to OST by suggesting that teacher-coach identity formation in higher education may not follow linear path, but rather unfold recursive—shaped and reshaped by institutional demands, personal experiences, and cultural norms. This interpretation challenges traditional OST models and highlights the importance of identity integration over role transition alone. Moreover, this case highlighted how reflective engagement with both academic training and applied coaching practice contributed to identity integration—particularly in contexts where formal preparation for multiple roles is limited or ambiguous.

Cultural foundations in early socialization

The first major finding of this study highlights the teacher-coach's own account of how early exposure to teacher-coaches shaped his foundational beliefs about coaching, even in the absence of a conscious career intention. He described his acculturation phase was characterized by repeated interactions with educators who served dual roles—classroom teachers and athletic mentors. According to his recollection, these individuals employed contrasting approaches: one emphasized structured technical instruction, while another allowed for high degrees of athlete autonomy. He reported that this dual exposure contributed to his internalization of a flexible, learner-centered view of coaching, even before he began to identify with the profession itself.

In Japan, where bukatsudō (school-based club activities) are deeply embedded in youth development and teacher-coaches often play pastoral roles, the teacher-coach's early relational experiences appear to reflect broader patterns of socialization described in previous research.^13,14 He recounted that these experiences are shaped not only by interpersonal rapport but also by culturally embedded values such as wa (social harmony), which emphasize group cohesion, mutual responsibility, and sense of belonging. ¹¹ This perspective may contrast with Western systems, where coaching often described as more specialized or externally situated. In Japan, however, prior studies suggested that coaching is often internalized as part of students’ broader moral and social development through school-based sports. ⁹ Thus, as reflected in the teacher-coach's narrative, early coaching relationships in Japanese schools can serve as embedded mechanisms of occupational socialization—instilling pedagogical and relational expectations that persist into higher education settings.

Taken together, the teacher-coach's account reframed the acculturation phase not merely as early exposure to sport, but as a process of pedagogical value absorption through culturally mediated relationships. While Richards and Templin ³ emphasized the need for multidimensional approaches that consider personal identity and social context, the present study further highlighted how early relational experiences may act as culturally embedded mechanisms of occupational socialization.

Reframing coaching through academic and organizational practice

The second key finding reflected the teacher-coach's own account of how he gradually reframed coaching from a peripheral responsibility to an integral component of his professional identity. He reported that his academic path was initially shaped by an interest in training science and by early encouragement from a faculty member. Although he recalled engaging in assistant coaching roles during his graduate studies, he noted that he did not view coaching as central to his future at the time. He described how sustained immersion in institutional practice—balancing teaching, research, and coaching—led him to recontextualize coaching as a legitimate academic endeavor.

This transformation is consistent with Richards et al.'s ² observation that professional and organizational socialization are deeply interrelated and may interact to shape occupational identity, rather than progressing in a strictly linear fashion. In this case, exposure to evidence-based practice during graduate coursework provided a cognitive foundation, while institutional expectations and collegial mentorship during his faculty years offered a platform to operationalize and refine that knowledge. As a result, the boundary between “academic labor” and “applied coaching” became increasingly blurred, allowing him to integrate both roles under a unified professional identity.

Furthermore, the teacher-coach's development of ability to interpret research through the lens of coaching—and vice versa—reflects what Lawson ¹ describes as an innovative response to socialization. In this form of response, individuals do not merely adapt to existing structures but actively reshape the settings and expectations themselves. In his case, rather than compartmentalizing his responsibilities, he reported that he sought to integrate his teaching (e.g. instruction in sport coaching theory), research, and field-based coaching practice into a cohesive professional approach. For example, he described applying lecture content directly to training design, while using daily coaching experiences to refine his research agendas. Through this reciprocal process, he developed what he characterized as a mutually reinforcing identity that bridged academic and athletic domains.

This account is particularly significant in the context of Japanese higher education, where gambari—the cultural ideal of patience, determination, and sustained effort—is not only a cultural value but also formalized within institutional practice. ¹⁰ According to the teacher-coach, this value was made explicit at his university through organizational messaging—for instance, he noted that the slogan “never give up” was frequently invoked in orientations, faculty meetings, and team activities. Such reinforcement may have contributed to the internalization of gambari as a professional standard, shaping the teacher-coach's commitment to his multiple responsibilities.

Within such environments, identity integration may be less about personal expression and more about navigating collective expectations and aligning with institutional missions. Taken together, the teacher-coach's account demonstrates that occupational socialization may be not only an adaptive process, but also a reflective and generative act shaped by the interplay of individual agency and organizational culture.

Broader theoretical and practical implications

This study offers several distinctive contributions to OST and fills a critical gap in the international literature by providing, to our knowledge, the first in-depth application of OST to the professional identity development of university teacher-coaches. While traditional OST frameworks emphasize linear progression from acculturation to organizational socialization,^1,2 this case illustrates that identity formation can be recursive and non-linear. Specifically, the teacher-coach described repeatedly revisiting earlier experiences and dispositions, which he then recontextualized across shifting institutional, relational, and cultural domains.

In the Japanese university context, this recursive identity formation is shaped not only by formal institutional structures but also by cultural expectations. For example, the teacher-coach reported the slogan “never give up,” —widely used in orientations and team settings—reflected the institutionalization of gambari, a value he felt shaped his sense of professional obligation across teaching, research, and coaching.

This integration-based trajectory differs notably from patterns observed in Western university teacher-coach models. For example, Zvosec et al. ⁸ found that teacher-coaches in NCAA Division III contexts often experience role engulfment, in which the demands of coaching overshadow teaching responsibilities—particularly in institutions where athletic prestige is central. However, in our case, the teacher-coach did not abandon academic identity but gradually merged coaching and research through reflective adaptation within his work environment. This suggests a distinctive trajectory of multiple-role integration, rather than one of role dominance or conflict avoidance.

Practically, this study reinforces calls for structural recognition of coaching as a form of academic labor. In Japan, coaching is often embedded in the faculty role without clear evaluative metrics or workload consideration, yet little empirical research has examined this institutional configuration. As this case revealed, university teacher-coaches can contribute significantly to both student-athelte development and academic production—particularly when they are supported through targeted institutional mechanisms. These may include mentorship from senior faculty familiar with multi-role demands, protected time for coaching duties within formal workload allocation, and evaluation systems that recognize the educational value of applied coaching. Additionally, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration can allow university teacher-coaches to bridge research and practice more effectively.

Taken together, these findings advance OST by demonstrating that multi-role identity formation is not merely about transitioning between roles, but about synthesizing them in response to cultural, institutional, and relational demands. Such insights offer theoretical guidance for researchers and policy implications for institutions seeking to support faculty-coaches operating in complex educational systems around the world.

Limitations and future directions

While this study offers valuable insights into the occupational socialization of a university teacher-coach in Japan, several limitations must be acknowledged. First, the single-case design, though methodologically appropriate for in-depth narrative analysis, limits the generalizability of findings across institutional types, sports disciplines, or national contexts. The teacher-coach's university, while representative in some ways, reflects specific organizational structures and cultural values that may not be present elsewhere.

Second, the study focused exclusively on one individual's narrative, which, while rich and detailed, may not capture the full diversity of teacher-coach experiences—particularly across gender, sport, or institutional prestige. Future research could adopt comparative case study approaches to explore variations across contexts (e.g. public versus private universities or institutions with varying levels of athletic investment), or employ mixed-method designs to examine how structural factors (e.g. faculty evaluation systems, coaching loads) influence socialization processes across institutions and affect university teacher-coaches’ identity development and job sustainability.

Finally, we recommend further empirical inquiry into how identity integration unfolds among multi-role faculty in non-Western and under-researched national contexts. Longitudinal studies tracking university teacher-coaches over time would be particularly useful in understanding how professional identities evolve in response to career stage, institutional changes, or shifting performance expectations.

Conclusion

This study contributes to the literature on occupational socialization by offering an in-depth narrative of how a Japanese university teacher-coach developed his professional identity across the three OST phases: acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization. While the teacher-coach did not initially intend to pursue a career in coaching, his early experiences with teacher-coaches established relational and pedagogical foundations that later informed his coaching beliefs and values. Through graduate education and institutional immersion, he gradually reframed coaching from a peripheral task to a central component of his academic identity.

By tracing this transformation, the study challenges linear models of role development and highlights the dynamic, recursive, and integrative nature of teacher-coach socialization in higher education. These findings suggest that support strategies for future teacher-coaches should address each phase of development. For example, during acculturation, early sport programs should provide diverse and reflective athletic experiences, enabling future teacher-coaches to internalize pedagogical values and relational skills. Exposure to multiple coaching styles and educator role models can foster flexible understandings of coaching from the outset. In professional socialization, teacher education programs should include applied learning experiences—such as research-informed practicum, structured mentoring, and opportunities to connect academic content to on-field coaching. These can strengthen the bridge between theory and practice. For organizational socialization, universities should formally recognize coaching as academic labor by incorporating it into workload policies, evaluation systems, and promotion criteria. Supportive institutional cultures that promote mentorship and interdisciplinary collaboration can further facilitate identity integration.

As universities rely on faculty to lead athletic programs, it is essential to recognize the complexities that university teacher-coaches face. Developing institutional frameworks that acknowledge coaching as a legitimate academic function—on par with research and teaching—can enhance the well-being of university teacher-coaches, support student development, and strengthen the overall educational mission of the university. Ultimately, the integration of academic and athletic roles is not merely a logistical challenge, but an opportunity to foster holistic educational environments grounded in meaningful faculty–student engagement.