From Competition to Career: Examining Personality and Career Readiness in Transitioning Collegiate Student-Athletes

While focus on student-athlete mental well-being continues to grow, there is limited scientific research on sport-retirement preparation. The transition from college sport to professional career creates unique challenges for student-athletes. These transitions are unique in their collective experiences as student-athletes, but also unique to each individual athlete, influenced by personality traits and motivational sources. Transitioning away from sport with strong work readiness skills upon entering the workforce is essential in fostering early career confidence and long-term success. Through the established theories of the Big Five Personality Model and Self-Determination Theory, this study hopes to address the gaps in understanding the personological and motivational relations with work readiness during this transitional period. This study uses a quantitative analysis through hierarchical regression to explore this relationship between personality, motivation, and work readiness. Findings show that the Big Five trait of openness as well as the narrow trait of self-directed learning act as significant positive predictors of work readiness. This study offers insights into how college athletic programs can better support student-athletes in their professional development by means of targeted interventions and programming.