A study by EDHEC’s NewGen Talent Centre spotlights the surprising link between the sports that students practise and the professional roles they aspire to take on, as the centre’s associate director, Geneviève Houriet Segard relates here; with additional input from director Manuelle Malot Athletic Advantage
youth and their screen habits – they are passionate sports enthusiasts. We surveyed 2,600 students at EDHEC Business School in France to explore the connection between sports and careers. We asked them about the sports they practise, how they have shaped their personalities and the skills they have developed as a result of their athletic activities. We also asked them to imagine themselves in their future career and analysed how their favourite sport might influence this choice. The resulting study by the EDHEC NewGen Talent Centre reveals a stronger link between the sports we play and the jobs we perform than some might have suspected, as well as providing tips on how business schools can help students reach professional and personal goals. Social, physical & competitive aspects of athletics Young people today almost unanimously define their relationship with sport as “fun and stimulating”. Three out of four play sports regularly, more to challenge themselves than to win, while two-thirds know how to motivate themselves without needing a coach. However, if they play a club sport, such as soccer or rugby, they do so to make friends and enjoy social time with their teammates. Our study also revealed some variation in sports practice by gender, with young women expressing a more urgent desire to excel and win. Meanwhile, young men claim to participate more frequently in club sports, with an emphasis on team wins and less on individual victories. We used our study to discover whether specific soft skills could be linked to a particular sport or athletic activity. To find out, we categorised sports by how they are practised: in teams (eg football, basketball, rugby), in pairs or one- on-one (eg tennis, judo, fencing), solo with a time or score
M onday mornings often bring a slew of social media posts from CEOs and senior managers detailing the weekend sporting competitions they entered (and may even have won), along with details of the athletic trials endured – all in the name of building physical strength and improving leadership skills. The benefits of sports for physical and mental health are well documented, but today more than ever they are also linked to professional growth and career success. Business school students are keenly aware of this trend and – despite what older generations may think about
20 | Ambition | NOVEMBER 2024
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