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Human Movement
Diverse Paths
As was the case in most of the Western world,
the initial undergraduate courses in Australia with content
pertaining to human movement and sport science were programs
begun as Physical Education teacher preparation qualifications.
The professional career paths available to graduates within
this domain are now as diverse as the imagination of the graduate.
The initial programs commenced soon after the conclusion
of World War II. One of the primary motives for these initiatives
was the evidence of so many men declared unfit for military
duty during the war effort. The government saw the solution
in the providing of Physical Education programs in schools,
delivered by better prepared and specifically educated PE
teachers.
The oversupply of teachers in Australia in the late 1970s
and early 1980s demanded that the institutions delivering
these qualifications identify new employment opportunities
for these graduates, resulting in the first appearance of
degrees catering for recreation professionals. In many instances,
this diversity of program delivery merely led to degrees,
delivered by physical educators, as a side-line activity to
the production of PE teachers.
Whilst the need to produce Physical Education teachers remains
a significant social need, and most developed societies demand
the availability of quality leisure programs for their citizens,
the career options of graduates within this domain is still
developing. The two most evident growth domains are in the
area of the professional delivery of sport and the role of
a physical lifestyle for community health.
The sports industry is developing at an unprecedented rate
of growth. From a business perspective, sport is now seen
as an area with the potential for high returns on investment.
It is quite significant that Rupert Murdoch has broadened
his business base from multi-media production into sport,
having recently purchased an American baseball team and an
Australian Rugby League competition, as well as seeking opportunities
to invest in an English football club. No business person
of such international stature would see fit to invest in sport
unless he was satisfied that this was a sound business venture
with ideal revenue-generating opportunities.
These actions have identified sport as a business with professional
management structures, marketing processes and development
strategies in place. It has portrayed new and developing career
paths for graduates of human movement science, sport science,
exercise science and related degrees. Graduates from these
degrees, who have undertaken an appropriate mix of subjects,
can now visualise career paths extending into such diverse
domains as sport management, sport marketing, event and facility
management, government policy development pertaining to sport,
sport journalism, sport psychology, and sport or athletic
coaching. Business leaders are only going to continue their
enthusiasm for such investments if they receive returns for
their money. Such returns will only be forthcoming if astute,
enthusiastic and properly educated professionals are delivering
the programs that earn appropriate financial returns. The
successful universities of the twenty-first century will be
those that have responded to this challenge by delivering
such degrees.
A second professional growth area for this group of graduates
is associated with community health. The increasing demand
for government expenditure within Health budgets is reaching
the stage where most governments are simply unable to function
in a manner that is satisfying their constituents. One of
the primary reasons for this problem is that of hospitals
and medical care programs. Governments have functioned with
politicians parading with the nomenclature of 'Minister for
Health', when in actual fact they have performed as a 'Minister
for Sickness and the Construction of Hospitals'. Government
focus simply has to change. If the change is not brought about
as a philosophical change, it will occur simply because insufficient
funding will be available to address the ever-increasing costs
of medical support.
Graduates of human movement, exercise science and sport science
degrees have the potential to become major players in this
shift in policy focus. It is the graduate who has the skills,
knowledge and understanding to initiate community health education
programs that reduce cardio-vascular disease, to reduce medical
dependency upon diabetes, to improve workplace health leading
to increased production, to initiate and promote programs
of activity for the elderly that reduce medical dependency,
and to maintain an active lifestyle for the unemployed and
disadvantaged groups in society. This is the graduate that
governments will be calling upon to shift the community focus
from medical dependency to healthy lifestyles in the decades
ahead.
The career paths of human movement science, sport science
and exercise science graduates are developing at a pace that
is not evident in other professions. Opportunities for such
graduates are expanding. The contribution that these people
can make to society and the recognition of this contribution
is at an unprecedented high, and all indications are that
this recognition will continue to grow.
Author
Professor Trevor Arnold, PhD
Head of School
School of Health & Human Performance
Central Queensland University
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