Tracing career paths in high-performance sport: Identifying key patterns and professional role typology

Abstract

This paper investigates career paths in high-performance sport (HPS) by analysing how professionals—both women and men—enter and develop their careers in the French Olympic sector. While existing research tends to focus on coaching-related roles, little is known about career paths across a broader range of HPS roles, particularly through a gender-comparative lens. Drawing on a processual and interpretivist framework rooted in symbolic interactionism, the study analyses data from 24 semi-structured interviews with professionals occupying diverse positions. Using an abductive approach and cross-analysis, the research identifies key patterns at both entry and development stages, leading to the identification of three ideal types of career paths: (1) established professionals, anchored in institutional continuity; (2) polyvalent and mobile professionals, who navigate fragmented and adaptive careers; and (3) specialists, whose trajectories are delayed but stabilised through expertise and credentials. The findings highlight that career paths are shaped less by role category than by cumulative advantages, resource mobilisation and situated opportunities. The typology cuts across gender and job categories, illustrating that similar career configurations can emerge in different roles and contexts. The study contributes a flexible interpretive framework for analysing career development in evolving, multi-employer sports systems. It also calls for more inclusive and transparent pathways that account for institutional logics, gendered constraints, and the diversity of roles supporting Olympic athletes and teams.