Edu-Check

When choosing for a study, it is crucial to gather as much information as possible on the different options. Each option has its unique challenges and opportunities. It is of utmost importance to athletes to analyse their dual career compatitibility. This spans the combined consideration of educational, athletic and personal aspects. The Dual Career Scan (pdf) provides a set of multi-directional questions athletes should ask themselves before deciding for an educational programme. It is applied once an athlete has already narrowed down their preferred educational areas of interest. The tool Me, Myself & I can assist this previously required step.

The Benefit Analysis (xls) is an easy-to-use template that automatically provides a numerical score for those educational options that turned out to be dual career compatible. Next to intuitive and emotional factors in human decisions, this analysis adds an objective dimension to each of these options. This analysis is recommended to be compared and discussed against a prior intuitive ranking of the different options by the athlete. It can be used autonomously but especially works well as step 2 in combination with the Dual Career Scan (pdf) (step 1) and Pro Con (pdf) (step 3).

The Pro/Con (pdf) list is a simple and effective way to reduce uncertainty when there is more than one viable option to choose. By analysing the advantages and disadvantages of each choice, the decision-making process becomes less subjective or influenced by emotions and personal biases. The athlete should then have gained a clear(er) picture in which direction they can plan their next steps as their dual career pathway takes them towards an ongoing educational journey. Pro Con (pdf) can be used autonomously but especially works well as step 3 in combination with the Dual Career Scan (pdf) (step 1) and the Benefit Analysis (xls) (step 2).

1. Provide the Dual Career Scan (pdf) to the athlete. Ask the athlete to find answers on the listed questions by researching all the necessary information on the different options they possess. Ideally, this can be done as a home task between two dual career counselling sessions. Advise the athlete complete the list with their own questions that they consider important. In addition to accessing online resources and on-site services of the respective educational institute, people from the athlete’s entourage (e.g., coaches, teachers, peers, family members, etc.) represent another valuable source of information.
2. Discuss the results from the Dual Career Scan (pdf) with the athlete to work towards a decision.
3. [If required, follow up with the Benefit Analysis (xls) and/or the Pro Con (pdf).]
4. If you decide for the Benefit Analysis (xls), discuss the research experience from the Dual Career Scan (pdf) with the athlete. Assist the athlete to narrow down their selection to 3 top educational options.
5. Together with the athlete, identify dual career-related factors that are of relevance to their decision (e.g., attractiveness of programme, distance between training centre and educational institute, study fees, level of study flexibility, etc.). The questions of the Dual Career Scan (pdf) might support the identification of factors. Insert these factors in the Benefit Analysis (xls) file.
6. Let the athlete assess their personal importance of each factor on a scale from 1-10 (10 = most important). Then, let the athlete rate the score of each option for every identified factor (1-10). After having rated all scores, the Benefit Analysis will automatically calculate the weighted total scores of each option.
7. Discuss the results with the athlete to work towards a decision.
8. [If required, follow up with the Pro Con (pdf).]
9. If you decide for the Pro/Con (pdf), use the results from the Benefit Analysis (xls), if applied before, and let the athlete consider its 2 top educational options.
10. Ask the athlete to identify pros (benefits) and cons (negative aspects) of each option and rate the relevance of each pro/con from 1-10 (10 = highest score). Please note that the pros and cons should be in relation between the two options to allow a comparison between the two. Calculate the total score of the 2 options by subtracting the cons score from the pros score.
11. Discuss the results with the athlete to work towards a decision.

• IOC Athlete 365 (2020): Athlete365 – How to make a Dual Career work for you
• IOC (2020): Athlete365 – Studying and Sport are a winning combination

• Storch, M. (2011): Das Geheimnis kluger Entscheidungen – Von Bauchgefühl und Körpersignalen
• Swiss Olympic (2017): Situationsanalyse Spitzensport und Studium

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