What can you do with a kinesiology degree?

Dear future kinesiology graduate,

My journey into the field of kinesiology was a pretty typical one: I applied to the undergraduate program at the University of Calgary with the goal of becoming a physiotherapist. I remember sitting in a physiotherapy clinic early in my grade 12 year while the physiotherapist ran an ultrasound over my shoulder, looking around and thinking: “I could do this for a living.” When I brought this up to my physiotherapist some sessions later, she explained the process to get in – how the first step was applying to a kinesiology program. So I did just that.

And I loved it. The human body is fascinating and, the more classes I took, the more I wanted to learn. In my second year, I decided to volunteer at the physiotherapy clinic in the Sport Medicine Centre on campus. Although I had a great experience there, I started to question whether physiotherapy was the right path for me. Afterall, I didn’t have much interest in injury or the rehab process in general. I actually found it boring as hell (not the case now!).

So, I made the decision not to apply to physiotherapy school. I didn’t have a clue what else I could do with my degree, only that I loved the field of study and that I wanted to see it through. One of my favourite instructors was an exercise physiologist and she was the first person to spark my interest in the subject. In my last year of my undergrad degree, I decided that this was the path I wanted to head towards.

For those of you who have already graduated with your Bachelor of Kinesiology, this next part probably doesn’t come as much of a shock: I couldn’t find a job in the field for about a year after graduating. I had limited kinesiology-related experience, no real connections outside of professors who probably didn’t remember my name, terrible interview skills, and not a clue how to job search. An undergraduate degree in kinesiology doesn’t get you squat in the real world.

I think that one of the big issues I faced was that I didn’t even know what the possibilities for work were. I knew that I wanted to study for my CSEP-CEP, but if I’m being honest… I didn’t really know what an exercise physiologist does.

So, let’s talk about it… What can you do with a kinesiology degree?

First thing’s first: What is the study of kinesiology?

It’s pretty common for people to have heard of kinesiology, but have no concept of what it really is. Most people equate it to physiotherapy and will ask you questions like, “My back sort of bugs me sometimes, how do I fix that?” My grandma used to proudly tell people that “her granddaughter was in kinesdiology” (yes, that d is in there on purpose), but would later whisper to me to: “What do you do again?”

In short: Kinesiology is the study of human movement (Kines referring to “movement” and ology meaning “study of”).

What different subtopics exist within kinesiology?

Kinesiology is a fairly broad term that encompasses a variety of different subtopics and specialties, some of which include:

• Exercise physiology
• Biomechanics
• Motor control and learning
• Injury rehabilitation and prevention
• Exercise and sport psychology
• Exercise and sport sociology
• Nutrition

Exercise physiology (my personal favourite) is the study of how exercise affects the human body both acutely and chronically.

An important side note: Is kinesiology a valuable profession?

I recently attended the Canadian Strength and Conditioning Association 2022 conference and heard something from Stuart McGill’s presentation that hit hard (I’m paraphrasing a little here): We have one of the most influential roles in healthcare… more so than any other healthcare professional.

It’s a bold statement, but hard to argue with once you understand what kinesiology professionals do. Every single system in the human body depends on optimal movement. This mostly refers to quantity of movement, but quality also can’t be understated. This is why chronic disease and exercise are so interrelated. We, as kinesiologists, have the leading hand in influencing this and therefore a leading hand in preventative healthcare. How incredible is that?

What job options does kinesiology give me?

Although this pathway seems more niche than taking something like business, there are actually a lot of different areas of work that a kinesiology graduate can look into. At times, it can even be a little overwhelming.

There are four primary populations that someone with a kinesiology degree can look at working with:

I don’t think it would be a good use of my time or yours to list off every possible profession within each of these areas, but I’ve included some examples below. This is by no means an extensive list and some of these jobs do require additional certification.

A general population setting might look like:

• Helping clients to reach their health and fitness goals as a personal trainer
• Guiding clients through their rehabilitative exercise programs as a kinesiologist at a physiotherapy clinic
• Working in health promotion to educate people on the benefits of exercise and improve physical activity rates among the general public

A clinical setting might look like:

• Teaching a group exercise class for cancer survivors to improve quality of life both during and post-treatment
• Working as a health coach to help individuals with chronic conditions find effective ways to introduce more physical activity into their daily lives and build healthier habits
• Designing individualized exercise programs to improve health outcomes for individuals with a variety of chronic health conditions at an exercise-based clinic

An occupational setting might look like:

• Conducting wellness testing for the city fire department as a certified exercise physiologist
• Working overseas as a physical fitness trainer for military personnel
• Designing training programs for astronauts to complete aboard the International Space Station during long-duration missions

A sport performance setting might look like:

• Writing and implementing strength training programs as an S&C coach for youth athletes to improve performance and reduce risk of injury
• Running national team athletes through lab-based physiology testing to determine training zones
• Working as a sport scientist for an NHL team, using data from training, testing, and monitoring to help inform better decision-making

Kinesiology undergraduate degrees are also becoming a popular stepping stone for grad schooling, such as:

• Master of Kinesiology/Master of Science
• Medical school
• Physiotherapy school
• Occupational therapy school
• Chiropractic school

A lot more students in Canada are using kinesiology as their first step towards becoming a medical doctor. This is a great thing! It means that more doctors in the future will have a better understanding of the key role that physical activity plays in healthcare.

Is an undergraduate degree in kinesiology worthless?

The short answer to this question is: No.

There’s a common narrative out there right now that an undergraduate degree in kinesiology on its own won’t land you a job after graduating. This is absolutely true. Not because a degree in kinesiology is worthless, but because no one deserves a job simply for completing a university program. Education is one of the smallest sections on a resume for a reason – experience is much more important. If I could go back and give myself one piece of advice on my first day of university, it would be this: Get as much experience in the field as you can in any way possible – paid or otherwise. I encourage whoever is reading this to do the same – it will save you a lot of time and frustration down the road.

What salary can you expect to make working in the kinesiology field?

This is a tricky question to answer, but not because income is so often thought of as a somewhat taboo topic of conversation in Canada. I’m more than open to discussing my own income and my understanding of what other professionals are being paid if you’re interested. Honestly – I think people would benefit from talking about income more often.

Compared to other professional fields, kinesiology is fairly new and frequently evolving as we learn more about its impact on preventative healthcare and the science behind human performance. Unfortunately, this means that it is still a fairly unregulated industry. Salaries can vary by a lot not only between different professions within the field, but also within the same profession. One of our goals with Your Kines Mentor is to help promote better regulation of the field, which includes how professionals are paid.

Stay tuned for a future more in-depth post diving into what pay ranges you can expect for different job titles within kinesiology.

In Summary…

It’s completely normal to feel lost after graduating from university. Before starting my master’s degree, I used to joke that I “should have gone to school for nursing. You finish school and you know that you’re going to be a nurse. I’ve spent the past four years studying kinesiology and I have no clue what to do now. Should’ve just gone to school for nursing!”

I don’t regret sticking with my kinesiology degree after deciding not to apply to physiotherapy school. In fact, I can’t think of any other subject that I enjoy as much as exercise science. Everyone will have their own experiences post-graduation, but I do think kinesiology is a difficult field to start a career in. The thing is – you really do have to love it. Not every part of it (biomechanics will probably never be my thing), but there has to be an area that absolutely fires you up. For me, that’s sport science/exercise physiology.

I recently had an athlete that I train say to me, “I heard you can’t actually do anything with a kines degree. You have to go into physio or something, right?” I hope that this article has helped to clear up that common misconception.

If you have any questions or want to learn more about what you can do with your kinesiology degree, feel free to reach out to myself or one of the other Mentors at any time!

Sincerely,

Your Kines Mentor