Career Shocks, Self-Management Strategies, and Decisions during COVID-19 Pandemic: The Gioia Methodology

This study aims to investigate the career shocks caused by the covid-19 pandemic, self-management strategies and the decisions made at this time. The study population was professional athletes who exercise is not a hobby but a job for them. We adopted a purposeful sampling along with a snowball technique. We collected data using semi-structured interviews, and draw on 14 interviews. We coded data based on the guidelines of thematic analysis approach that is used in the Gioia methodology. We generated 57 first-order codes, 16 second-order themes, and three aggregate dimensions. In our study, career shocks took one of the following seven forms: loss of professional development opportunities, limited access to physical resources, limited access to financial resources, psychological stress, physical stress, job uncertainty, and limited opportunity to gain experience. Our analysis led to identification of seven career self-management strategies: avoidance, acceptance, projection, positive reframing, seeking social support, paying attention to daily routines, and problem solving. Career shocks and adopted self-management strategies have led to the adoption of two decisions: leave or continue the sports career.