| As was the
case in most of the Western world, the initial undergraduate
courses in Australia with content pertaining to
human movement and sport science were programs begun
as Physical Education teacher preparation qualifications.
The professional career paths available to graduates
within this domain are now as diverse as the imagination
of the graduate.
 The
initial programs commenced soon after the conclusion
of World War II. Oneof the primary motives for
these initiatives was the evidence of so many
men declared unfit for military duty during the
war effort. The government saw the solution in
the providing of Physical Education programs in
schools, delivered by better prepared and specifically
educated PE teachers.
The oversupply of teachers in Australia in the
late 1970s and early 1980s demanded that the institutions
delivering these qualifications identify new employment
opportunities for these graduates, resulting in
the first appearance of degrees catering for recreation
professionals. In many instances, this diversity
of program delivery merely led to degrees, delivered
by physical educators, as a side-line activity
to the production of PE teachers.
Whilst the need to produce Physical Education
teachers remains a significant social need, and
most developed societies demand the availability
of quality leisure programs for their citizens,
the career options of graduates within this domain
is still developing. The two most evident growth
domains are in the area of the professional delivery
of sport and the role of a physical lifestyle
for community health.
The sports industry is developing at an unprecedented
rate of growth. From a business perspective, sport
is now seen as an area with the potential for
high returns on investment. It is quite significant
that Rupert Murdoch has broadened his business
base from multi-media production into sport, having
recently purchased an American baseball team and
an Australian Rugby League competition, as well
as seeking opportunities to invest in an English
football club. No business person of such international
stature would see fit to invest in sport unless
he was satisfied that this was a sound business
venture with ideal revenue-generating opportunities.
These actions have identified sport as a business
with professional management structures, marketing
processes and development strategies in place.
It has portrayed new and developing career paths
for graduates of human movement science, sport
science, exercise science and related degrees.
Graduates from these degrees, who have undertaken
an appropriate mix of subjects, can now visualise
career paths extending into such diverse domains
as sport management, sport marketing, event and
facility management, government policy development
pertaining to sport, sport journalism, sport psychology,
and sport or athletic coaching. Business leaders
are only going to continue their enthusiasm for
such investments if they receive returns for their
money. Such returns will only be forthcoming if
astute, enthusiastic and properly educated professionals
are delivering the programs that earn appropriate
financial returns. The successful universities
of the twenty-first century will be those that
have responded to this challenge by delivering
such degrees.
 A
second professional growth area for this group
of graduates is associated with community health.
The increasing demand for government expenditure
within Health budgets is reaching the stage where
most governments are simply unable to function
in a manner that is satisfying their constituents.
One of the primary reasons for this problem is
that of hospitals and medical care programs. Governments
have functioned with politicians parading with
the nomenclature of 'Minister for Health', when
in actual fact they have performed as a 'Minister
for Sickness and the Construction of Hospitals'.
Government focus simply has to change. If the
change is not brought about as a philosophical
change, it will occur simply because insufficient
funding will be available to address the ever-increasing
costs of medical support.
Graduates of human movement, exercise science
and sport science degrees have the potential to
become major players in this shift in policy focus.
The graduate with the skills, knowledge and understanding
to initiate community health education programs
that reduce cardio-vascular disease, to reduce
the diabetic's dependency on medical treatment,
to improve workplace health leading to increased
production, to initiate and promote programs of
activity for the elderly that reduce medical dependency,
and to maintain an active lifestyle for the unemployed
and disadvantaged groups in society is the graduate
that governments will be calling upon to shift
the community focus from medical dependency to
healthy lifestyles in the decades ahead.
The career paths of human movement science, sport
science and exercise science graduates are developing
at a pace that is not evident in other professions.
Opportunities for such graduates are expanding.
The contribution that these people can make to
society and the recognition of this contribution
is at an unprecedented high, and all indications
are that this recognition will continue to grow.
Author
Professor Trevor Arnold, PhD
Head of School
School of Health & Human Performance
Central Queensland University
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