A Qualitative Analysis of the Intersectional Socialization of NCAA Division I Student-Athletes Across Diverse Identities

This research explores the socialization of NCAA Division I student-athletes through case study research methods to understand the influence of collegiate sport on interactions across intersectional identities. Grounded in academic theories relation to student-athlete socialization and intersectionality, this study addresses the following overarching question: What is the influence of athletic participation on the socialization of student-athletes? Interviews lasting 30-45 minutes were conducted with student-athletes (n=21) and athletic staff (n=4) associated with an NCAA Division I football program at a predominantly White institution (PWI) in the southern United States. Results suggested that the socialization of student athletes is complicated by their diverse, intersectional identities and oftentimes requires them to fall into perceived situational identities depending on the social setting.

High-Revenue Athletics Institutional Policies and Practices Aligned with Key Resources for STEM Career Development

This study sought to explore the ways in which athletics departments within high-revenue National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I universities established institutional policies and practices aligned with providing key science, technology, engineering, and mathematics career development resources. These resources were derived from an earlier study focused on Black male student-athletes in high-revenue Division I athletics. The athletics department websites of a sample of high-revenue Atlantic Coast Conference institutions were reviewed seeking evidence of such policy and practice alignment with STEM career development. The resources identified from this review included explicit programming and student-athlete experiences for career, personal, and cultural identity development; designated institutional support personnel, including academic advisers, career counselors, and learning specialists, with the potential to provide personalized social support and academic support; and tutoring and study hall as additional academic support practices. The need for equity and student-centeredness is discussed in light of the implementation of each of these resources, as well as considerations of the impact of athletics departments demonstrating leadership and accountability in administering these resources, as compared to university-wide departments of academic and student affairs.

Looking Beyond the Toxic Triangle: Connecting Sexual Abuse to Failed Governance

The authors aim to further theoretical conceptualizations of sexual abuse in college sport by providing a wider framework to better identify and combat abuse within organizations. Building on the Toxic Triangle of Destructive Leadership, the authors offer an analysis of destructive leadership from an organizational perspective that reconceptualizes destructive leadership as a group and organizational phenomena by centering governing board actions in previous cases of abuse. Through analysis of the NCAA governance structure and the governance structure of higher education at large, the authors provide rationale for advancing governing boards as a sport governing body and demonstrate how governing boards are inseparable from the governance structure of the NCAA. In analyzing the literature on organizational responses to sexual abuse in intercollegiate athletics, the authors posit a new framework to better identify, prevent, and combat abuse in sport and call for enhanced proactivity from institutional leadership to address sexual abuse.

A Conceptual Model of the Emergence of Diversity and Inclusion Officers in Division I Collegiate Athletics

In recent years, Division I athletic departments have adopted athletic administrators of diversity and inclusion. These inaugural actors hold distinct titles, but the essence of their position mirror Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) in higher education and business domains. The purpose of this manuscript is to offer a conceptual model that explores why intercollegiate athletic departments have adopted these positions and why these positions will continue to increase in adoption. The emergence of these roles occurs on the backdrop of prominent social movements in the United States (U.S.) and high-profile intercollegiate sport scandals while also aligning with contemporary trends in higher education institution. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Fact vs. Fiction: An exploratory study of graduation rates of Division I student-athlete “special admits” within a single conference

Currently, the NCAA does not track the academic outcomes of student-athlete special admits. The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain an understanding of educational outcomes for Division I specially admitted student-athletes. Findings showed the special admit population had the same six-year graduation rate as the overall FCS student body cohort (55%). Only a small percentage (4.5%) of special admits were dismissed for academic reasons. Further study is suggested regarding the demographics and incoming academic characteristics of this population in order to pave the way for academic best practices for this severely understudied group of students within higher education.

Gender Differences in Athletic and Academic Cultures on a University Campus

In order to explore the differences between a student’s academic life and a scholar-athlete’s sports life, we investigated the organizational cultures of a university’s academic departments and sports teams by surveying 259 students and 230 student-athletes. We found the academic cultures to be more clannish (family oriented) and the sports cultures more market (performance and results) driven. For the female athletes, we found a negative relationship between clan culture and satisfaction with their sports team, while for everyone else (male and female students and male athletes) clan culture was positively related to satisfaction with academic department or sports team. Relatedly, for the female athletes, the relationship between market culture and satisfaction with their sports team was positive, while for everyone else (male and female students and male athletes) market culture was negatively related to satisfaction with academic department or sports team. This suggests that there are important differences between the experiences of male and female student-athletes. We also found the participants in the business school to be less clannish than those in the other schools and colleges. We discuss the practical implications of these results for coaches of male and female athletes and for campus leaders of academic departments.

Academic Success: Perceptions of Student-Athletes, Learning Specialists, and Academic Advisors

The current study explores how academic success is defined and perceived by student-athletes and athletic academic support staff professionals, specifically learning specialists and academic advisors. Using qualitative methods, one-on-one interviews were conducted with participants from six “Power 5” programs to establish overarching themes. Academic advisors identified academic achievement and personal development as academic success. Learning specialists identified academic success as maximizing individual potential. Student-athletes identified meeting grade-based standards and work ethic resulting in reaching personal goals as academic success for themselves. Student-athletes also perceived that their advisor would identify eligibility and effort as academic success, and that their learning specialist would view academic success as building academic skills and work ethic.

Basketball, Books, and Brotherhood: Dewitt Clinton High School as Scholastic Model of Postwar Racial Progression and African American Leadership

In 1950, the City College of New York (CCNY) became the first racially-integrated team to win the national championship of college basketball. Three of the players on that team attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, New York. At the time Clinton high school was one of the most academically-rigorous public schools in the city and the United States. During this postwar period Clinton annually sent nearly a third of its graduates to college, this at a time when the national average of high school completion stood at twenty percent. The unofficial school motto etched in yearbooks and the student paper was “college or bust.” Needless to say, DeWitt Clinton strongly encouraged its student body to attend college and for those who did not, they were pushed to excel beyond the limits of their chosen professions. This intellectually competitive academic environment was integrated and more than twenty-percent black. Like their contemporaries, black students were encouraged to pursue opportunities that seemed unthinkable in an era of racial stratification. As a result, Clinton produced a number of black students armed with the skills to navigate the terrain of prejudice and circumvent a number of social barriers. DeWitt Clinton high school was a model for interracial brotherhood while also fostering black leadership. Like Jackie Robinson, whom integrated Major League Baseball in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the three black athletes who competed on the CCNY team were prepared for the transition of competing on a racially integrated college team, can be partially attributed to their secondary schooling at DeWitt Clinton. This article examines the racial climate of DeWitt Clinton during the postwar years when the three young men were in attendance and how it fostered a culture of Basketball, Books, and Brotherhood.

A Model to Enhance Overall Well-being, Mental Health Practice and Professional Development among Division III Student-Athletes as They Transition from Athlete to Professional

The goal of this project was to create an impactful program, entitled “PROF Academy”, to assist Division III college student-athletes as they transition into the professional environment by providing education on mental health and overall well-being concepts, such as mindfulness, stress management, anxiety reduction techniques and understanding depression. PROF Academy consisted of workshops and online modules addressing the above topics, as well as career development skills, focused on resume and cover letter writing, interviewing skills and networking. This innovative program was designed to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration among a Division III campus to holistically bolster the psychosocial well-being and mental health of student-athletes.

When Football Programs Increase the Racial and Gender Diversity at Small, Private Colleges

This research examined if the addition of new small, private college football programs increased the diversity of enrollment on campus and provided opportunities for underrepresented minority students to earn a college degree. The researchers examined enrollment trends at 150 private small colleges: 50 that started new football programs between the years of 1990-2013, 50 that had existing football programs, and 50 without football programs during the same period. The study found that the percentage of small private colleges that experienced high increases in minorities and male students (5% or higher) was higher among the colleges that started a new football program than at institutions with existing football programs or institutions without football programs. The study’s findings provide valuable information for college administrators considering adding a new football program at their institution. The study also contributes new research that explores how adding a new football program impacts the diversity of student enrollment at small, private collegiate institutions. Enrollment management directors must become more aware of the need to hire diverse faculty and staff that can better relate to and serve a diverse student body. In addition, athletic leaders can approach college decision makers with information related to how the addition of a new football program will affect the diversity of student enrollment.