As thousands of professionals are drawn to work in the sport industry known for celebrity, action, and excitement, a growing body of literature on the industry’s culture describes a field fraught with burnout, stress, and difficulty balancing work–family responsibilities. Given this contradiction, there is a need to better understand employee experiences. Thus, the authors utilized a human capital framework to develop employee archetypes. Results from a latent cluster analysis of National Collegiate Athletic Association athletics department employees (N = 4,324) revealed five distinct employee archetypes utilizing inputs related to human capital development and work experiences (e.g., work–family interface, work engagement, age). Consistent with creative nonfiction methodology, results are presented as composite narratives. Archetypes follow a career arc from early-career support staff to late-career senior leaders and portray an industry culture wherein the human capital is largely overworked, underpaid, and replete with personal sacrifice and regret.

随着数以千计的专业人士被吸引到以名人、动作和刺激而闻名的体育行业工作，越来越多的关于该行业文化的文献描述了一个充满倦怠、压力和难以平衡工作与家庭责任的领域。鉴于这种矛盾，有必要更好地了解员工体验。因此，作者利用人力资本框架来开发员工原型。全国大学体育协会体育部门员工的潜在聚类分析结果 ( N = 4,324) 揭示了五种不同的员工原型，它们利用与人力资本开发和工作经验相关的投入（例如，工作-家庭界面、工作投入、年龄）。与创造性的非小说类方法一致，结果以复合叙事的形式呈现。原型遵循从职业生涯早期的支持人员到职业生涯后期的高级领导者的职业轨迹，描绘了一种行业文化，其中人力资本主要是过度工作、薪酬过低，并且充满了个人牺牲和遗憾。