Dual career through the eyes of university student-athletes in the Republic of Kosovo

Introduction: The successful combination of a sports career and education,known as the dual career, requires cooperation and a multi-dimensionalapproach. Although extensive research has been conducted on dual careerprograms and services in developed countries, there is limited informationavailable on the dual-career phenomenon in developing countries. This studyaimed to explore the dual career experiences of university student-athletes inthe Republic of Kosovo.Materials and methods: A 30-item online survey was distributed to studentathletes,addressing various aspects of the dual career. A total of 121 studentathletes(males: 63.6%; females: 36.4%) voluntarily participated in the survey.Results: These student-athletes represented 13 different sports, with 102 (84.3%)participating in team and 19 (15.7%) in individual sports. Between individual andteam sports no significant differences were found regarding university and sportsengagement, and the time required to travel from the university to the trainingvenue, whereas a significant difference (p = 0.019) emerged for the timeneeded to travel from home to the training venue. Significant differences (p <0.05) were found between university majors in terms of sports engagement.The present findings highlight a lack of familiarity with dual career programsamong student-athletes (89.3%) and the need for dual-career policies at theuniversity (16.5%), sport (9.9%), and national (13.2%) levels. Student-athletesfaced various challenges, mainly related to limited leisure time (62.8%),academic overload (60.3%), frequent absence from classes (59.6%), andfinancial uncertainty (35.5%). Recommended improvements included increasedfinancial support (66.1%), the availability of sports facilities at or near theuniversity (48.8%), greater educational flexibility (26.4%), tutoring services atthe university (25.6%), and sports clubs (19%) levels, as well as improvedcommunication regarding existing initiatives and legal aspects (53.7% and47.1%, respectively). The study also identified parents (98.3%), coaches (86%),and siblings (60.3%) as important sources of support for student-athletes atpersonal, sports, and university levels.Conclusions: In conclusion, to enhance the potential of future student-athletesin the Republic of Kosovo, relevant stakeholders in sports and higher educationshould collaborate closely and implement programs and services based oninternational best practices for dual-career support.