The purpose of this study is to analyze the career transition issues of retired Korean Women's Professional Basketball players from a Human Resource Development (HRD) perspective and, based on this analysis, to propose life cycle-based career tran...
The purpose of this study is to analyze the career transition issues of retired Korean Women's Professional Basketball players from a Human Resource Development (HRD) perspective and, based on this analysis, to propose life cycle-based career transition support program tailored to the WKBL.. Retirement for athletes is a career transition process that entails the reconstruction of identity, occupation, and social relationships; it is a multifaceted process, and systematic support is required, particularly for female professional athletes, who face overlapping challenges of early retirement and gender-based barriers.
To this end, this study conducted a systematic literature review and a comparative literature analysis. Domestic and international academic papers, dissertations, policy reports, legal and institutional data, and official program data from leagues and institutions were collected, and the cases of the WNBA, IOC Athlete365 Career+, K League, KSPO, and WKBL were compared and analyzed. The analysis focused on the timing of support, support objectives, service composition, operating entities, partnerships, the extent of gender specificity, follow-up management, and evaluation factors. In addition, this study applied the analysis and design stages of the ADDIE model to reconstruct the results of the comparative analysis into a customized program design plan for the WKBL.
The research results showed that, first, advanced overseas cases shared common success factors such as early intervention beginning during athletes’ active careers, gender-sensitive support, provision of multiple career paths, public-private-academic cooperation, and follow-up management systems. Second, while the domestic support system for retired athletes is equipped with an institutional foundation and public programs, it was found to be lacking in customized design that reflects the specific characteristics of each sport and the unique life cycle of female athletes. Third, while the WKBL possesses strengths in utilizing league assets such as operating basketball classes, it is analyzed to be skewed toward a single career path centered on coaches, and requires improvement in terms of support for childbirth and childcare, dual careers, job expansion based on private partnerships, and systematic follow-up management.
Based on these findings, this study proposed a design plan for the WKBL life cycle HRD+ model. This design plan integrates three modules—career preservation, dual career, career transition, and social linkage—according to the life cycle stages of entry-level, active service, retirement preparation, and immediately after retirement, and derives a design plan to provide support centered on the four axes of HRD: education, career, psychology, and networking. This study is significant in that it reconceptualizes WKBL retirees not as passive recipients of welfare, but as strategic human resources requiring continuous development and management, and offers foundational insights for future policy development and league-level implementation models in women's professional sports.
Keywords: WKBL, Retired athlete, career transition, human resource development (HRD), dual career, life cycle, program design